What it shows
Short paragraphs written by students and by an AI tool are mixed and shown to volunteers who guess the author. The results show how hard it is to tell and what clues people use.
The science
AI text is fluent and tidy, so people cannot reliably tell it from human writing, and detectors also make mistakes. Because of this, the honest use of AI means saying when it was used and checking facts. A test with many readers gives a percentage of correct guesses that can be compared with 50 percent, which is what pure guessing would give.
Materials
Cost: free. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- A computer, laptop or phone with a browser (free)
- A free AI tool used with an adult, a word processor and a spreadsheet
- 6 short paragraphs of 80 words on a simple topic, written by students
- Twenty volunteers
- A notebook and a pencil
Safety
For this project: Use the AI tool with an adult and give it no personal details. Show paragraphs without names and use the test only for learning, never to accuse anyone of cheating.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Choose a topic such as My favourite festival and ask six students to write one paragraph each of about 80 words.
With an adult present, ask an AI tool for six different paragraphs on the same topic of the same length.
Remove names and mix the twelve paragraphs in random order, number them and record the true author of each.
Ask twenty volunteers to mark each paragraph as Student or AI and to write one reason for three of them.
Enter the answers in a spreadsheet and use =COUNTIF to find the percentage of right guesses overall.
Compare it with 50 percent, the result of pure guessing, and find which paragraphs fooled most readers.
List the clues people used, such as perfect grammar or lack of personal details, and say if they were reliable.
Write a short note on how to use AI honestly: say when you used it, check facts and write your own work.
What you should see
A percentage of correct guesses, usually not far from 50 percent, plus a list of the clues readers used and a note on honest use of AI.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1What would pure guessing score?
About 50 percent.
2Why is AI text hard to spot?
It is fluent, tidy and trained on a lot of human writing.
3What is honest use of AI?
Saying when you used it, checking facts and doing your own thinking.
4Why not accuse someone based on a guess?
Both people and detectors make mistakes.
Take it further
Test whether a longer paragraph is easier to identify than a short one.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
Computer & office
Computer Fundamentals Study Book
The complete study notes, practice questions and glossary for Computer Fundamentals
Computer & office
Safe UPI and Digital Payments
Pay and receive money online, and recognise the tricks fraudsters use