I’m not sure that I’ve recognized much flat-out artificially generated writing here on CC. Although I will say that I’ve found it amusing when my 100% original posts have been mistaken for AI material, as they have been, though mostly — at least so far — in other forums.
I am sensitive to it. In our office, we have gone from looking down on job candidates who do not write thank you notes to eliminating those who write AI thank you’s.
I think there is a good amount here, but I do not use many forums so I do not have much to compare it to.
You use a lot of em dashes and so does AI. Fun test… take a “volume poster” who uses em dashes and answers very quickly. Put in an AI checker. AI 4/5x.
But, back to the original question of whether there is a point to it. I guess giving factual information to someone uninformed at a rapid pace would be one benefit.
For anyone who uses such systems, has AI gotten to the point where you can prompt it to “write like a real person,” or something like that? Also, except for weirdness (see “peaches,” above), how can a recipient tell the difference between a nicely written note (or post) and one generated by AI?
em dashes, common AI words like “alongside” that are less common when most people write. Speed combined with great detail that a human won’t generally know. Too tightly written to be from a human. If a post seems overly edited. Lots of clues.
2 Likes
Yes, that’s part of the problem.
I would like it very much if people would not quote an AI-generated response as though it’s a reliable source. AI tools can be useful, but they aren’t at the point of being reliable in this way. Humans still need to double check AI-generated responses, using genuinely reliable sources (and their own logical thinking).
Of course our own opinions and experiences aren’t necessarily reliable, but that’s okay… it’s perfectly fine for people to post about their genuine opinions and experiences. However, it’s problematic when people prop up an opinion with AI (and yes, often people directly credit the AI tool, or even screenshot the text, because they do believe that it counts as a “reliable source”).
6 Likes
Are you saying that you’ve checked my posts and have gotten a positive response for likely AI generation? It so, I’d imagine such a check would produce a similar result for posts I’d written before the existence of AI. In any case, since AI has learned how to write from humans, it shouldn’t be surprising that fully original writing may be becoming increasingly difficult to recognize.
1 Like
No, I am answering your question. I am also not the best person to discuss the specifc criteria but am happy to message you things I receive that are AI generated.
1 Like
Both of my kids have odd word choices at times, probably at least partly because their dad is an excessively educated immigrant with foreign and bookish ways of speaking. My daughter was also horrified to find out that AI is known for its tendency to use em dashes, because she loves em dashes (and she is one of those Luddite kids who hates AI and refuses to use it). Now she runs things past me a lot, “does this sount like AI to you Mom?”
1 Like
Just to be clear, my earlier post mostly referred to external sources of the conventional type, not artificially generated material. It was only in my last sentence that I offered the beginning of an opinion on AI.
1 Like
I think your post was clear! The phrase just happened to set off one of my pet peeves.
1 Like
Most CC participants seem to be pretty bright folks, and an easily do their own google/AI/chatgpt/gemini/claude/perplexity you-name-it research. That is not what they come to cc for. IMO posters, e.g. new posters looking for guidance or posters looking for advice in decision-making are, IMO, looking for seasoned, knowledgeable, experienced folks who can respond to their questions hopefully from training, personal knowledge and/or experience, history, etc.
Gee, even when “news” pops up on my phone, it will identify if it is AI generated and “may have inaccuracies”. IIRC, waaaay back when, CC experimented with using a little chatbot that reminded me of, and fortunately went the way of, the microsoft clippy.
And the copy/paste of AI generated “info” reminds me of the “copy/paste” hoaxes on facebook. I am always an amazed at the very bright people who post those copy/paste hoaxes without bothering to do any research into them. This is my Favorite (and note the title reference too:)
3 Likes
Proof that AI has won.
I am not sure that I would know if something came from AI.
4 Likes
Me too! I don’t think I’ve ever read a CC post and thought it might be AI. I do know, though, that I tend towards the unsuspecting/gullible.
2 Likes
Well…my help with bathroom design used Gemini, but I clearly stated that!
Problem with AI is that it may try to summarize what it believes to be the most reliable sources, but the most reliable sources on the topic may be low quality sources (because other sources are even lower quality), or what appears to be the most reliable source may be something that is incorrect but so widely believed that it and others stating the same incorrect notion are the most common answer for that topic.
Of course, humans can also make the same mistakes.
3 Likes
Should the Terms of Service have a condition that AI-generated content may be used, but must be fully disclosed or quoted as coming from whichever AI generated it?
6 Likes
In fairness to students on here, we should probably encourage them to use genAI to phrase and format their post for the old fogies that complain that the post is not well written. 
Ha ha! Yes 
Then instead of seeing posts like this:
lowkey stressing that my grades might not be good enough for elite schools 
and my ECs prob aren’t that convincing either tbh. idk if I’m cooked. what do y’all think?
We might instead see:
I find myself somewhat concerned that my academic record may not be sufficiently strong to satisfy the standards of elite educational institutions, and that my extracurricular activities may likewise fail to present a particularly compelling case. I am uncertain whether this places me in a genuinely precarious position or whether I am simply overanalyzing the situation. I would be very interested to hear others’ thoughts.
7 Likes
great idea