How AI content detection works
AI writing tools pick likely next words, so their text often has a smooth, predictable pattern. Detectors look for that pattern: sentence lengths that barely vary, safe word choices, stock transitions and paragraphs that summarize instead of saying something specific. This tool asks an AI model to read the text for those signals and explain what it found.
Why no detector is fully reliable
Style is not a fingerprint. A careful human writer can produce even, polished prose, and AI text that a person has edited can read as fully human. Results are least reliable when:
- The text is short. A few sentences do not give enough signal. Aim for several paragraphs.
- The writer is not a native speaker. Simpler vocabulary and textbook grammar can look machine-like and lead to false flags.
- The topic is formulaic. Legal notices, product specs and technical instructions follow fixed patterns no matter who writes them.
- The text was edited or translated. Mixed authorship blurs every signal.
How to use the estimate responsibly
- Treat it as a prompt for a closer look. Read the signals listed under the score and check them against the text yourself.
- Never use it as proof. Do not accuse a student, writer or employee based on a detector score. Talk to the person and look at drafts, notes or version history instead.
- Compare like with like. If you review a writer's work, compare it with earlier pieces you know they wrote.
Signs worth checking by hand
Look for missing specifics such as names, dates, places and first-hand detail, confident claims with no sources, repeated sentence openings, and endings that restate the introduction. These are signs that a draft needs more work, whoever wrote it. For editors, the most useful question is often not who wrote a piece, but whether it is accurate, specific and useful to the reader.