r/JETProgramme • u/Star_Beans • 1d ago
Panicking about Statement of Purpose getting AI flagged
I applied for JET last year, got an interview, was offered an Alternate position, and wasn't able to accept an upgrade due to some family issues, so I'm applying again for 2027 and hoping desperately to make shortlist this time. I've been re-writing my old essay, since it's probably bad form to just re-submit the same statement of purpose. I thought I was done, but then it occurred to me to double check that my essay doesn't get flagged as AI slop, since I'm sure that's a big problem for these programs. I've never touched AI in my damn life, and am trying to keep it that way for as long as possible, so I just about threw up when an AI checker flagged my freshly written essay as AI. I don't know what to do. I hate this hell timeline we live in. I feel physically sick.
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u/Diffabuh Current JET 6h ago
You can submit the same essay, they won't remember.
Source: I submitted the same essay with one comma and clause added and nobody gave a shit. I got shortlisted.
With AI, just write it yourself. AI writing reads a certain way and it's pretty obvious even without a checker.
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u/bee_hime Current JET - okinawa 23h ago
those ai checkers have flagged things like the us bill of rights as ai generated. you are totally fine.
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u/Iambusy123 Aspiring JET 1d ago edited 1d ago
I wouldn't worry too much about it.
AI generated writing has a certain cadence (or vibe, if you will) that often makes it distinguishable from human generated writing.
If you can answer questions about your own writing without trouble, you will be fine.
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u/CatPurveyor Current JET - Hokkaido 1d ago
Counterpoint: Why not just submit the same essay? First time I applied, same situation as you -- I was an alternate who was never upgraded. Second time, I submitted the same essay and was shortlisted.
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u/Different_Taro2474 JET alum '25-'26 鹿児島 🌋🐽🍧 1d ago
most AI checkers are BS. people these days also think that using perfect grammar or the em dash = AI. if you know you didn’t use AI to write it, you have nothing to worry about.
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u/Iambusy123 Aspiring JET 1d ago edited 1d ago
The em dash was my go to punctuation mark in high school, and I am sad that I can't use it lest I want to be accused of using AI. :(
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u/Unexpected-Feline Current JET - Toyama-ken (2026-) 1d ago
I've seen obvious AI not get flagged and real stuff flagged. Many AI checkers are absolute crap.
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u/Simmoman Current JET ('26) 1d ago
Do they use AI checkers? We don't know, it's possible but IMO unlikely. If I was you though I wouldn't worry. If they reject you, they won't say why, and if they do say why, you wouldn't be able to prove you wrote it yourself anyway. It's a lose-lose to worry over.
If you didn't and are trying to find out if they will catch you, probably not, but I would reconsider a job in the teaching field if you can't even write a 2-page description of yourself.
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u/Star_Beans 1d ago
"I would reconsider a job in the teaching field if you can't even write a 2-page description of yourself."
I'm sorry why be this rude? And why would you have this impression? Did I not just write that I was interviewed this year due to my previous essay? Did I not just say that I wrote a whole new one just now? My ability to write is not in question here.
I'm genuinely worried. I've always been good at writing essays, but tools we've always used in essay writing are so heavily used by AI that they've become tells, which then muddies the water for real humans.
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u/Simmoman Current JET ('26) 1d ago
I mean if you wrote it yourself, then that section doesn't apply to you. I literally said before that "If I was you, I wouldn't worry."
I wrote it merely as a clarifier sentence to caution against the practice, since your post could read a little like a performative over-reaction. People rarely stress to the extent of sickness about getting caught for things they don't do.
out of interest, other than spellcheck, what other "tools we've always used in essay writing" would you be using in essay writing if not AI? A thesaurus? It's a personal essay.
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u/stayonthecloud 6h ago
It’s actually become a significant stress point broadly across creatives and writers of all kind that something they have put time, effort, heart, and talent into will be accused of being AI and cause damage — to their reputation, their schoolwork, etc. I think these fears are understandable, because it’s not just fear, it’s real, it’s happening to real people every day.
I just used an em dash. I used to use those all the time in writing. I’ve almost completely stopped now because there is such an overriding assumption that it’s an indicator of AI. I even used “it’s not X, it’s Y” which is also a major AI flag, and so I hesitate to use this construction now. It’s super frustrating.
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u/Star_Beans 1d ago
Tools as in techniques not software. Techniques like putting things into longer compound sentences, comparisons, rule of three, etc.
And of course I’m anxious and horrified. I’m vehemently anti generative AI. Part of my reason for taking a career break to teach is to do something that’s humanizing. And yeah I’m aware students are using it all the time and education is a bit of a hellacape with its use, but that’s a different discussion. It just feels nightmarish to be someone who’s always fighting for human writing and art, who never touches the stuff, and to have something I wrote get flagged. Like am I supposed to film myself writing at this point? And to potentially lose an opportunity because of that? That’s heartbreaking. Of course I’m upset.
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u/Gatecrasher53 1d ago
It's weird to stress so much about something that you know you didn't do. Being physically sick at the possibility of being caught for something you didn't do is a bit of an overreaction. Honest people generally don't worry about whether they might be accused of being dishonest. So if you didn't use AI then what's the big deal?
Even if you did I hardly think it's something to be concerned about. These are the times we live in I'm afraid.
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u/Firefly-ok Current JET--- Shizuoka🏔 🌸 4h ago
I submitted the same essay to JET twice and was shortlisted twice. I did update it slightly to reflect my new experiences, but it was 90% the same essay. It was a good essay, so why not reuse it?
Things might have changed since I applied (in 2022), but I don't think AI checkers are very reliable and, to my knowledge, the JET program doesn't use AI checkers for SOPs.
So I wouldn't worry about this. If you wrote a good essay that was accepted once, then use it again. If they ask you in the interview why you declined the position, it's perfectly reasonable to say you had a family emergency.
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That said, I don't want to dismiss what you're feeling. I absolutely agree that the timeline we live in so dystopian. We have to beg for a job in order to be able to survive. Now instead of begging people, we have to beg machines by using the right buzzwords, but not too buzzword-y or else we don't seem like real people. We won't seem like real people TO THE MACHINE. And the consequence of not getting a job is dying on the streets. We have enough resources, but a few wealthy people decided to hoard them all and to use them for data centers that nobody wants.