Turnitin is not the solution

I would like my first column of 2025 to focus on technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), as I believe advances in this field will begin to mature this year and continue to exponentially evolve in the years to come. AI continues to find increasing applications --and a lot of potential for misuse-- in our lives.

I would like to discuss AI’s impact on the academe, a sector to which I also belong, having taught in college for over two decades. Many in the academe are undoubtedly familiar with AI already and, in fact, either fear it or regard it as an enemy.

I take the opposite view, acknowledging the dangers of AI while also recognizing its immense benefits to society. Regarding the latter, I wouldn’t be surprised if, within a year or two, AI-aided research will find a cure for cancer or significantly extend the average human lifespan.

Yet in the academe, there is too much focus on how AI has disrupted creativity and originality, with teachers scrambling to catch students allegedly cheating on their essays. This ties directly to my number one pet peeve in the academe.

It's called Turnitin, a tool supposedly designed to detect plagiarism. I am against it because I believe it offers a lazy solution to the age-old problem of plagiarism, now further complicated by AI. Turnitin, while not an AI in itself, is actually a software platform that incorporates AI and other advanced technologies primarily to detect AI-aided plagiarism and check for originality.

The problem is that many teachers see Turnitin as a one-size-fits-all solution to the complex issues surrounding academic integrity. While technology can help detect shenanigans that use technology, there is a better detection tool: common sense and humanity.

Plagiarism is a symptom of a lack of engagement with the learning process. I asked some of my students what they think of Turnitin, and my query was met with a collective sigh. One student, whom I know to be a very good writer, complained that she now has to change her writing style and replace some words because her work is flagged by Turnitin as possibly plagiarized or unoriginal.

How do I know she is an exceptional writer? During the first few meetings in class, I usually require my students to write essays on paper, using a pen, right in front of me. I turn to manual methods not because I don’t trust them --that’s beside the point-- but to emphasize that disciplined writing often emerges from using a typewriter or a pen on real paper.

In contrast, the academe’s seemingly growing reliance on Turnitin has caused unhealthy trust issues between students and educators. Rather than fostering a culture of intellectual inquiry and critical discourse, tools like Turnitin promote distrust and a punitive approach to learning.

Having taught in college for over two decades, my advice to teachers who see AI as a threat to their methods is simple: change your methods. Upgrade your pedagogy. Delegate to technology tasks that technology can perform faster and more efficiently. And focus on what technology cannot replace: critical thinking, empathy, creativity, and the human connection.

Familiarize yourself with your students and spend time with them in person. Schools must also control class sizes, as this advice becomes futile if classes are too large. A simple conversation with a student can reveal their true understanding of the subject. Assign tasks that challenge students to reflect and personalize their responses. Facilitate class discussions that demand analysis, reflection, interpretation, and synthesis of information. Encourage students to question the validity of sources and the logic of arguments.

In Journalism courses, for example, I require my students to go out into the field, engage with human sources, and immerse themselves in the relevant community to create comprehensive and impactful stories. These activities cannot be replaced by social media or other technology, though they can be aided by them.

Technology is like toothpaste. Once it’s out of the container, you can’t put it back. However, you can use it to your advantage by thinking critically and acting humanely.

By the way, I share the forecast of a technology expert who boldly predicted that AI will eventually 'kill the internet.' Advances in AI, they argue, will make deepfakes so convincing that distinguishing them from the truth will become nearly impossible. Ironically, this might restore people’s trust in paper and analog methods. In other words, newspapers and books may become fashionable again in the near future.