Move over em-dash, there’s a new AI giveaway.
It’s hard to deny that AI is everywhere these days, and it’s no surprise that it’s making its way into classrooms.
Since sneaky students are figuring out how to take the easy way out by using ChatGPT to do their homework or write their essays, one college professor took to social media to reveal the one word that gives it away.
Phrased as a warning to students looking to finish their semester on a strong note, Matt Prince, an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Southern California, told students in a viral TikTok video with over 700,000 views: “Just a friendly reminder to all you students out there, who are submitting your final papers and submissions for the semester, if you are using AI, make sure you’re reading through the output before you just turn it in.”
“If the word ‘moreover’ shows up in your paper, there is a 99% chance that AI has written it,” he continued. “I’ve never heard a 20-year-old use ‘moreover’ in their life…. read through it, make sure it sounds like yourself.
While the em-dash used to be a telltale sign of AI being used, according to Prince, this formal adverb is taking its place.
While this professor brought up a valid point, many grammar ners in the video’s comment section were not having it.
“??? So we’re gonna get penalized for knowing English,” quipped one person.
“I’m 22, but I would have totally 100% used the word moreover in an essay at 18, 19, 20, you name it. I’ve always been a huge grammar fanatic and love using a wide variety of vocabulary … I would have totally gotten in trouble for doing nothing except for writing it myself lol,” another argued.
“So happy to know my extensive vocabulary is no longer an asset. This organic machine apparently comes across as artificial intelligence instead of human intelligence,” chimed in someone else.
The professor didn’t specify his consequences for suspecting a student used AI in their writing, but one could assume that it wouldn’t be good.
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