The outrageous popularity of ChatGPT has caused a real storm in the academic realm. Students have got their hands on a powerful tool that can help them deal with virtually any task a college throws at them. Finding answers to the most complex questions, solving problems and equations, coding in various programming languages, and, of course, compiling different texts. In turn, educational institutions literally freak out about students using AI for essay writing, passing exams, and making a grade overall. Finally, students who have used custom writing services and were fully satisfied with them start wondering whether they can save their money, generate the required paper with the help of artificial intelligence, and submit it as their own.
We’ve written this blog post to answer the most frequent and essential questions about artificial intelligence in the context of academic writing and the services the PaperHelp company provides to students. Let’s start!
Why is everyone so crazy about GPT? Is it the first AI-based content generator?
GPT and ChatGPT are AI-based large language models developed by the OpenAI company. They have become so popular primarily for two reasons: accessibility and ease of use. The combination of these two features is what the other AI-based content generators lacked, even though they had been invented before GPT. However, when you offer a chatbot that can talk to users like their friend (a smarter one, by the way), deliver an answer to virtually any question, find useful information, provide advice (regarding cooking, finance, health, etc.), perform problem solving and essay writing AI free of charge and without limits – it’s only natural that it becomes an instant hit. The maximum that the vast majority of previously available AI content generators offered without paying for premium versions was up to 300 words of generated text.
Are ChatGPT and other AI tools good or evil?
ChatGPT and other AI-based utilities are simply tools. First of all, you must understand how they work and how to use them. Then, you can move to creating useful (content), fun (games), serious (apps), or harmful (malicious code) stuff. Whatever you choose, the market today offers hundreds of AI-based utilities for various purposes: copywriting and design, coding and development, audio and video editing, customer support and human resources, SEO and SMM, and many, many more.
Does ChatGPT generate good texts?
Those that answer simple questions – like “What is water?” – are quite good. However, if the text requires understanding the general context, staying on top of the latest news and trends, and featuring a certain level of expertise – then no. Perhaps, the quality of texts is going to improve with time, but when this time comes and which knowledge areas will be affected remains unknown.
Are ChatGPT and AI writing essay generators okay for writing academic texts?
For all we know, we can confidently tell that AI is a great tool for writing – but not for ACADEMIC writing! Generating a piece of content of fictional or creative nature styled after, for instance, John Steinbeck or Colleen Hoover is one thing. Putting together a full-fledged and well-researched term paper according to the highest academic standards is absolutely different. “Okay” or “good” writing won’t do here.
A proper academic text must be subject-specific and use a certain methodology, be perfectly formatted and structured, and accurately referenced. Moreover, it might require conveying new ideas, sharing personal experiences, or presenting the results of actually conducted experiments. Can any of the existing AI generators do all of that? The answer is short and simple – no. It cannot understand the specific context of academic prompts. It cannot get a bit of information from sources only available in print. It cannot distinguish truthful information from fiction or fake, routinely producing incorrect content. After all, it obviously cannot generate original and innovative ideas or write about a writer’s personal experience.
In the end, it is absolutely reasonable to say that ChatGPT and other AI-based writing tools can partially help you with research, but as of now, they don’t possess the features necessary to craft a high-quality piece of academic writing.
Can teachers detect AI-generated texts?
Yes, easily. Entire educational institutions and individual teachers across the country proactively use multiple AI content detectors, free and paid. The most widely used tools include GPTZero, Originality, Compilatio, AI content detectors by Copyleaks, Corrector App, and Writer; even OpenAI has its own AI Text Classifier. They all use linguistic analysis and comparison with known AI-generated texts in one form or another. Based on classifiers, embeddings, perplexity, and burstiness, AI content detectors can spot machine-generated text with high probability due to its shallowness and uniform wording. That said, even if one utility clears the text as human-crafted, others may still red-flag it because of the specifics in the text analysis algorithms of each tool.
So, can an AI-generated text make a grade for me?
This might be possible only if we’re talking about simple texts on generalized topics. That said, you would still devote a lot of time and put considerable effort into adjusting, refining, and rewriting the AI-generated content in order for it to look like crafted by a human and pass anti-AI detectors. Complex papers with complicated prompts, requiring using proper sources or analyzing your personal experience, are practically impossible to put together using ChatGPT or any other AI writing tool. And if you try doing it, the chances are high that the AI-related origin of your work will be easily spotted by a teacher.
Can AI-based writing tools replace custom writing services like PaperHelp?
Perhaps, someday. We are only starting to realize the potential AI has and the threats it poses. However, you must understand that PaperHelp gives you much more than ChatGPT and other AI-based tools can offer.
When using AI content generation, you will need to spend time on creating a detailed prompt, generating several text options or their different parts, putting them all together into one piece, and then rewriting, revising, and formatting it to comply with the required standard.
When addressing PaperHelp, you just send us your instructions and then receive an entirely original, subject-specific, completed academic paper hand-crafted from scratch by an expert with respective background and experience. In other words, you save time and make your life easier! We solve core issues students experience while AI-based content generators don’t. That’s why AI tools cannot and hardly will ever be able to fully satisfy students’ needs. And that’s why they don’t have the potential to entirely replace custom writing services.
Do PaperHelp experts use AI-based tools?
Yes, an experienced paper writer can use AI-based tools for research, fact-checking, grammar checking, and text readability analysis – but not for writing! Writing is performed exclusively from scratch according to your specific requirements and individual instructions. On the other hand, our company also uses AI-based tools in customer service. It’s like we’ve said above: AI is just a tool, and you must know how to use it to your utmost advantage. Overall, such an approach allows us to deliver human-crafted papers as fast as just 3 hours.
Do you check the texts you send customers for signs of AI writing?
Of course! Before sending the ready text to you, our Quality Assurance department by default checks it for originality, compliance with your requirements, and – self-evidently – for the signs of AI writing. To this end, we use several most advanced AI content detectors. In case there’s even the slightest doubt, the paper will be entirely rewritten and checked over and over again.
What’s next?
PaperHelp always was, is, and will be committed to delivering unique, human-written academic papers. They always were, are, and will be crafted by expert authors with relevant academic backgrounds and practical experience. Every piece always was, is, and will be checked by professional editors and Quality Assurance managers. Overall, PaperHelp always is and will be putting our customers first and ensuring they get the best service there is. Also, having carefully analyzed the technology and expert feedback on it, we expect the hype around ChatGPT and other tools will decrease, and they will become one of the many tools used by content creators in their everyday work, while academic writing will remain primarily the human area of responsibility. We will keep tabs on AI trends and inform you of the latest news on the subject.
