Irreparable Reputational Damage, Courtesy of Lazy Algorithms
AI detectors aren’t just junk. They’re actually dangerous. They cause irreparable harm to those they falsely accuse.
Beyond their staggering technical incompetence, these “AI detectors” represent a systemic failure of due process. They masquerade as objective truth while operating on little more than statistical hearsay.
The mechanism of this failure is practically Kafkaesque. These tools generally scan for “perplexity” and “burstiness,” which are measures of how predictable a sentence is. The problem? Standard academic writing is designed to be predictable, clear, and structured. By penalizing low-perplexity writing, we are effectively punishing students, particularly non-native speakers, for mastering the very formal clarity we asked them to learn.
By legitimizing these “black-box” inquisitions, institutions are effectively outsourcing their academic integrity to flawed heuristics. It is a dangerous synthesis of algorithmic bias and administrative laziness that results in a climate of digital McCarthyism and inflicts irreparable reputational damage.
The solution isn’t “better” detection software. It is a return to actual pedagogy. Assessing a student’s understanding requires human engagement. Checking version histories, discussing the thesis in person, and evaluating the process rather than just the product. We cannot automate trust, and attempting to do so is an act of professional negligence.
Cordially yours,
**_Mike D
Pithy Cyborg | AI News Made Simple_**
