Frequently Asked Questions on Turnitin

Got questions about Turnitin AI detector? We've got answers. Dive into this FAQ-packed guide that breaks down everything you’ve been wondering.

Written by

Catherine B.

Published on

Jun 10, 2025

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, Turnitin can detect AI-generated writing through its built-in AI writing detection feature. It analyses patterns in sentence structure, predictability, and linguistic markers that are common in AI-generated text.

Yes, Turnitin is specifically designed to detect AI, including Chat GPT outputs. Turnitin does not name Chat GPT specifically as your resource but flags your content as AI generated nevertheless.

Turnitin uses a proprietary AI-writing detection model that:

Analyses sentence-level probabilities (how predictable the language is)
Identifies patterns typical of AI text generation
Estimates the percentage of AI-written content in a submission

In simple words, Turnitin has a built-in “library” of examples for how AI-generated text looks like and compares your sample against these reference points.

Although none AI detector is 100% accurate in all cases, Turnitin is among the most accurate detectors, used by many universities. The research from the Temple University with 120 sample texts found that:

Turnitin correctly identified 93% of human-generated texts
Turnitin correctly identified 77% of AI-generated texts
Turnitin correctly identified 63% of texts disguised as human written
In the hybrid texts, partly written by humans and partly by AI, it correctly identified only 43% of the texts.

Therefore, its accuracy depends on the level of AI intervention in the text.

It depends on whether the paraphrasing fixes typical AI markers that detectors check. Turnitin will not detect Chat GPT in your text if you:

Rephrase sentences with natural, human-like variation
Change sentence structure and word choice
Add personal insights
Remove repetitive patterns or filler content
Use your own voice and style consistently throughout

Turnitin uses its own proprietary AI-writing detection model, developed in-house and not publicly available. It is not powered by third-party tools like GPTZero or Copyleaks.

No. Grammarly simply helps improve grammar, punctuation, and tone; it doesn’t generate full text. Turnitin does not flag Grammarly-enhanced writing as AI-generated or plagiarised.

It can. If QuillBot is used for basic paraphrasing:

The similarity score may still be high if structure remains similar
AI detection may also flag the result as partly machine-written

However, deep manual editing after QuillBot use may reduce detection chances.

The best way to bypass Turnitin is to use AI technologies ethically. In particular, you can:

Use AI only to generate initial draft or for self-education purposes
Use tools like Chat GPT to suggest your writing direction
Rewrite thoroughly any AI-generated input

25% on Turitin is not too high. As of June 2025, Turnitin presented an update to the grading system, where scores below 20% are no longer flagged as AI to avoid false positives.

Therefore, although a 25% score shows that some AI usage has possibly taken place with a paper, it is still not a high score. However, a particular university, college, or teacher may impose their own standards of plausible AI scores for students.

No. Turnitin is not infallible:

It can miss well-paraphrased or hybrid texts

It may flag human-written text as AI, especially if a student's natural way of thinking is very well-structured or if a text is written by a non-native language speaker. This finding is backed up with Stanford 2023 research.

According to Turnitin help center, you can use Turnitin if your institution has enabled Turnitin Draft Coach for the shared institution’s account. However, please note that the tool does not check for AI reports, it only provides plagiarism, citation check, and grammar guidance.

Turnitin is not available for personal purchase and does not otherwise provide an option for students to check their work without submitting it to an assignment.

Turnitin can falsely flag your work as plagiarized due to a few reasons:

The work has common phrases or definitions from matching sources
Citations or quotations are poorly formatted
The work is detected as a reused submission or overlapping group work

The exact reasons are usually available for students in the report section. After reading the report, students can clarify, explain, or review the flagged sections.

Usually, professors are clarifying such details as tools they use and flows of assignment grading within the first lecture of the semester. Alternatively, it may be specified in the institution’s website, learning materials, or introductory guides.

If none of this is the case, the student can ask the instructor directly.

To check Turitin similarity report:

Make sure that the institution has enabled Turnitin Draft Coach (Usually, school’s admin installs or enables Draft Coach)
Use Google Docs or Word Online to open an assignment.
Launch Draft Coach via Add-on > Turnitin Draft Coach or through the Turnitin tab.
Click “Get Feedback Now” to access the tools and run checks

No. Turnitin analyses text-based submissions only. It cannot scan: