You have probably heard of plagiarism checkers, since some, like Turnitin, have been around for decades. But putting the word “AI” in front of “plagiarism checker” may be a little less familiar.
What is an AI plagiarism checker? How does it differ from a traditional one, and how can it benefit you?
Read on for the answers to these questions and to discover where you can find this AI tool.
What Is a Plagiarism Checker?
A plagiarism checker is a resource that scans any document you upload and checks for plagiarized or stolen content. For example, if you’ve done a massive research paper and have forgotten to cite sources, a plagiarism checker will flag that issue.
And if you’re publishing content regularly online, you’d better be certain it’s not accidentally stolen from another source. Otherwise, you could be facing serious legal charges.
It’s a relief to catch plagiarism before any content is submitted, since plagiarizing anything can have serious consequences for the offender, whether or not it was unintentional.
How Does a Plagiarism Checker Work?
The precise way a plagiarism checker works may vary slightly depending on the platform used. In general, you’ll upload, paste, or type your content into a designated area and then click somewhere to scan for plagiarism. Your document will then be compared to a massive number of documents from all over the internet.
If any part of your document is found to be very similar to or identical to something within the plagiarism checker’s database, it will be flagged as plagiarized content, and you’ll be given the opportunity to cite your sources.
Sometimes, content you’ve personally written has phrases similar to other content out there. If this happens, it may be flagged as potential plagiarism. You’re able to use your own discretion as to whether or not you need to reword or cite any of that flagged material.
What’s the Difference Between Traditional Plagiarism Checkers and AI Plagiarism Checkers?
Traditional plagiarism checkers have been around for quite a while. AI plagiarism checkers are relatively new, and have cropped up as a result of ever-advancing technology. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two.
Traditional
A traditional plagiarism checker will compare your work to a large database of sources in order to detect any direct plagiarism.
If a writer has plagiarized ideas, or has changed or disguised a few words in order to try to get away with plagiarism, the traditional checker may miss these things.
Finding a traditional plagiarism detector with a substantial database to compare articles to will be highly beneficial, but you may find that additional help from an AI plagiarism checker is necessary.
AI
An AI plagiarism checker goes beyond simply comparing articles to a large database and is also able to detect plagiarized ideas and paraphrased plagiarism in writing.
If a writer takes an entire article and attempts to change portions here and there, and then rearranges it to pass it off as their own, a traditional plagiarism checker may miss this and not flag it as plagiarism.
On the contrary, AI plagiarism checkers have an easier time detecting these forms of plagiarism and correctly bringing them to one’s attention.
An AI plagiarism checker shouldn’t be confused with an AI content detector. The AI plagiarism checker compares articles to a database to detect plagiarized or stolen work. An AI content detector determines if the writing it is scanning has been AI-generated or human-generated.
What Are the Pros of AI Plagiarism Checkers?
As with most things, there will be both pros and cons when using a product. Here are a few positive aspects of using AI plagiarism checkers.
Encourages Integrity
Knowing that their work may be run through an AI plagiarism checker by a teacher or professor can help students choose to maintain integrity from the start of a new assignment. It also helps any writer ensure they haven’t unintentionally plagiarized anyone at any point during their writing process.
Quick Results
Though databases may be large, AI plagiarism checkers can scan through them rapidly and provide almost instant results. It saves you the labor of combing through your work and any references you used, ensuring you don’t miss citing sources.
If you use Grammarly, for example, once you click “check for plagiarism,” you’ll have a list of possibly plagiarized sources in about 30 seconds. A “well done” notification will be given if the platform hasn’t found any plagiarism.
Catch What Traditional Tools Miss
As mentioned above, AI plagiarism checkers tend to catch signs of plagiarism that traditional ones may overlook. Writers who attempt to bypass a traditional plagiarism checker by reordering an article or rewording sections won’t get away with it if their plagiarized work is run through an AI checker.
What Are the Cons of AI Plagiarism Checkers?
Here’s a quick discussion on the negative aspects of plagiarism checkers to help you make an informed decision.
False Positives
With any AI platform, whether an AI plagiarism checker or an AI detector, you may experience a false positive result. It may claim content was plagiarized or AI-generated, when you are certain wrote every word. False positives can lead to frustration if your grade, ranking score, or the credibility of your work is questioned simply because it was falsely flagged by an AI checker as being stolen or generated by AI.
False positives can lead to a longer editing process and cause headaches for many writers. In order to combat this, look for AI platforms with a high detection accuracy rating. This means they’re less likely to hit you with false positive results, and you won’t have to worry about correcting many things before submitting your work.
Lead to Laziness
Focused and dedicated writers should cite any sources used along the way as they complete their work. If they know they’re just going to run it through a plagiarism checker, writers may skip the crucial step of intentionally citing sources and ensuring they aren’t claiming any other author’s ideas or words as their own.
Unfair for Non-Native English Speakers
Some AI checkers are biased toward English speakers and may unfairly cite non-native English speakers’ work as being plagiarized or AI-generated. Educators should determine if the demographics of their classroom would be negatively impacted by the unintentional bias that an AI checker could pose before using one as the sole detector of plagiarism.
Finding a multi-language checker that can check work in various languages can be an effective way to combat this bias.
Which AI Platforms Have a Plagiarism Checker?
After you’ve given some thought to the positives and negatives of plagiarism checkers, you may be interested to learn what’s available on the internet. The good news is that there is an extensive list of options.
Grammarly
Grammarly is a commonly used platform for detecting plagiarism. You’ll get results within a few seconds to a minute or so. If it detects any potential plagiarism, Grammarly will highlight that section and give links to sources the text matches. If you did use ideas, wording, or direct quotes from those sources, you’ll easily be able to cite the sources and move on to the next step in the editing phase.
GPTZero
GPTZero will give you a score based on the percentage of plagiarism detected in your work. From there, it will provide sources that can be used to help cite any flagged work and ensure you don’t get docked for plagiarism later. GPTZero uses the internet and online databases to compare your work and catch potential plagiarism.
PlagScan
PlagScan is a plagiarism checker by Turnitin. You can easily scan work from several standard file formats and get instant results.
Similar to Grammarly, any problem spots will be highlighted so you can easily address them. However, PlagScan takes it a step further, and the highlights are color-coded based on whether it is a direct match for plagiarism from a source or altered text that is highly similar to a source.
PlagScan provides a list of sources for any content highlighted as plagiarized, so you can easily fix those sections with proper citations.
Quetext
Quetext compares your work to billions of others in their database and lets you know if anything is a near match or a direct match. It also has an additional feature: a Cite Source tool that will help you properly cite your sources in APA, Chicago, or MLA format, depending on your rubric requirements. Citing sources can be a pain, and having this tool is a time saver.
Turnitin
Turnitin is one of the OG plagiarism checkers. Students and educators have used it for many years. In recent years, it has also pivoted into being an AI detector platform to keep up with the fast-paced, continually advancing world of AI technology. Its goal of promoting academic integrity means it is an excellent resource for individuals seeking to use AI to enhance their work while remaining honest and authentic in what they write.
Copyleaks
Copyleaks’s plagiarism checker not only detects plagiarism, but it can also detect paraphrasing and copyright infringement issues. It is also able to detect AI-generated content, so writers can address multiple issues in one location. Users have access to a massive database, which includes 60 trillion websites, meaning there is little chance the site will miss any plagiarism.
Winston AI
Winston AI’s plagiarism checker has access to 400 billion resources to compare against your work. As with many of the other platforms, you’ll receive a score for how much plagiarism it detects. The higher the score, the bigger the plagiarism problem. It can detect plagiarism in many languages, meaning this is a beneficial tool for a broad audience.
PlagiarismCheck
PlagiarismCheck is a plagiarism checker and AI detector all in one. Whether you’re in education, a business, or an individual writer, PlagiarismCheck is marketed as a useful tool for you. It functions similarly to the other checkers: You paste your work and the results arrive swiftly. You can even download reports on results to share with others as needed.
Copyscape
Anyone can use Copyscape, but it seems to be marketed toward people who have multiple writers creating content for them on their website. It is intended to give the website owner peace of mind that the work being submitted to the site is original. Original work will boost their search engine rank, whereas articles that contain plagiarized material might harm it.
What Other AI Tools Are Helpful?
Plagiarism checkers aren’t the only AI tools people find helpful. Depending on the work you need to do and how much you’re willing to use AI to improve and enhance your writing, there are many other AI tools that can be useful to keep in your writing toolbox.
AI Detectors
AI detectors are convenient tools to ensure your work is original and authentic. Many people use chatbots to help them formulate ideas, though they still intend to make those ideas their own and not let the chatbot do all the work for them. In the writing process, some AI content can be missed, and AI detectors ensure you catch those missed sections.
A reputable and reliable detector will have a high accuracy rating and will be straightforward and easy to use, with instant results. AI Detector is an example of one of those platforms. It’s especially beneficial for those in the academic and professional world. In addition to detecting AI, AI Detector’s platform can humanize text and detect AI images.
Grammar Checkers
Grammar Checkers are always a convenient AI tool to have in your writing toolbox. Even the best writers miss a comma here and there. Grammar checkers help to catch all those little grammar and spelling errors, and some even give suggestions on better sentence structure and wording to make your work clearer and more understandable.
High-end grammar checkers like Grammarly enable you to set default goals, such as intended voice, target audience, and how formal or informal it needs to be, so your writing stays within the parameters of understanding for the audience you hope to reach.
Text Humanizers
In order to avoid AI detectors flagging your content as being AI-generated, you can use a text humanizer to make AI-generated content sound more like a human wrote it. AI Detector is one of several platforms that have this impressive feature.
AI-generated content can be repetitive or overly formal, or it can adhere too obsessively to specific patterns. Sometimes, we can unintentionally sound a bit “AI” ourselves. Humanizers can help us understand when content is or sounds like AI and how we can change and improve it to sound more authentic and personable. This allows us to better connect with our intended audiences.
A good humanizer tool will keep the original intent or message intact while enhancing the content by making it sound more natural and less robotic or repetitive.
Chatbots
Chatbots you may be familiar with include ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Chatbots are a fascinating AI development. They allow you to have conversations with the platform and use it to generate ideas or even write whole articles.
There’s some controversy on whether the latter use of a chatbot is ethical. Erring on the side of authenticity and integrity in your work is always a good idea, so using a chatbot in the brainstorming process, rather than the writing process, may be a more beneficial way to use this AI tool.
AI Detector Can Help Prevent Plagiarism
AI plagiarism checkers are an extremely helpful tool in ensuring integrity and honesty in any of your work. Whether you’re a student, an educator, or an SEO optimizer, you’ll find plagiarism checkers beneficial in your writing process.
If you want to take the benefits of AI in your writing to the next level, pair other useful AI tools, such as those on the platform AI Detector, with your use of a plagiarism checker. Together, these tools can ensure you present solid, authentic, and honest work every single time.
