L108 · AI at work · 3 min

Teachers: AI homework and fair judgment

AI detectors are unreliable, so fair teachers rely on conversation, process and well-designed tasks instead of a detector score.

01 · The idea

AI text detectors give a score that looks precise but often is not. They miss AI text that was lightly edited, and they wrongly flag human writing. Studies have found they flag writing by non-native English speakers more often, which makes them unfair as evidence.

Treat a suspicion as a reason to talk. Ask the student to explain their argument, define a word they used, or describe how they wrote it. Someone who did the work can usually talk about it.

Design tasks that show process: drafts, notes, an in-class part, a short reflection on how they worked. Connect tasks to class discussions or local examples AI would not know.

Set clear rules about when AI is allowed and how to say they used it. Many students use it because the rules are unclear, and an honest policy invites honest answers.

02 · Think of it like this

It is like a smoke alarm that goes off when you make toast. You would not call the fire brigade on the toast alone.

03 · Do it now

04 · Quick check

An AI detector says a student's essay is 90% AI. What is the fairest next step?