Techniques & Methods
AI Detector in plain English.
Also known as: ChatGPT detector,AI writing detector,AI content detector
The one-sentence version
A tool that estimates how likely a piece of text was written by AI.
An AI detector is a tool that estimates how likely a piece of text was written by AI rather than a human. Detectors look at patterns AI text tends to have — uniform sentence rhythm, common AI phrases ("It is important to note", "leverage", "delve into"), low perplexity, and overuse of constructions like "not just X, but Y". Common tools include GPTZero, Originality.ai, Copyleaks, Turnitin's AI detector — and our own free three-signal detector. The honest reality in 2026: free AI detectors are 50–65% accurate. They produce false positives on non-native English speakers, technical writing, and translated text. Use as a hint, not a verdict.