Since artificial intelligence (AI) software ChatGPT was released in 2022, teachers have been looking for ways to tell when AI has been used to generate text in assessments. AI-detection software is still sold by some tech companies, such as Pangram, as a potential solution.

This month, the New South Wales Education Standards Authority updated its rules to stop schools from relying on AI-detection software when deciding if a student has cheated. The reasoning is that these tools are not always reliable.

While most Australian unis have have already shifted away from AI-detection software in some form, my research suggests the education sector should go one step further, and not use AI-detection tools at all.

Unis each have their own rules around how they use AI-detection software, or whether they use it at all.

Some unis, such as the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of NSW, use AI-detection tools in some form to assist in flagging potential cases of misconduct.

Other unis, such as Curtin University and the University of Queensland, have opted to not use AI-detection tools at all.

The reason is because this software is not always accurate.

When AI-detection tools incorrectly flag a student’s work as including AI-generated text, this is called a false positive. AI companies want to develop detectors that have low false-positive rates.

For instance, Turnitin, a United States-based company that sells AI-detection software, promotes a false-positive rate of less than 1%. However, Turnitin says this software........

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