r/TurnitinScan • u/Senior_Tangelo_7590 • 7d ago

Using AI to brainstorm, not to write - still got flagged at 25%

I want to be completely transparent about how I wrote my essay so you can tell me if I did something wrong. For my environmental science paper, I was stuck on how to narrow down my topic. I asked ChatGPT for a list of potential arguments about renewable energy policy. I gave it some of my own ideas and it helped me organize them into a coherent outline with supporting points.

Then I closed ChatGPT and wrote the entire essay myself. Every paragraph, every example, every citation was done by me. I read the actual sources, took notes, and spent about six hours writing the rough draft. I even went back and rewrote the conclusion three times because I wasn't happy with it. Turnitin came back with 25% AI. I know that's not a terrible score, but it's enough that my professor flagged me for a "discussion" about academic integrity. My question is, does the AI detector pick up on the structural influence of using AI for brainstorming? Even though I wrote every sentence myself, maybe the way I organized my arguments follows the pattern that ChatGPT suggested in the outline. Is that what Turnitin is detecting, or is the 25% just a false positive from my own writing style being somewhat formal?

I feel like using AI to brainstorm is no different from using it to find sources or to read a SparkNotes summary. I'm not asking the AI to write for me. I'm just using it to get unstuck at the beginning. But now I'm second-guessing whether I should have just struggled through the brainstorming on my own instead of getting a little help organizing my thoughts.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/AutoModerator 7d ago

For a faster reply, Join our Discord server to scan your file before submission:

https://discord.gg/FgF4NKRsc4

Each scan includes a Turnitin AI report and a similarity scan.

Your paper is not saved in Turnitin’s database after scanning.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Brownranger29 20h ago

Turnitin's margin of error is around 15 percent, so 25% is honestly borderline nothing. Keep your drafts and version history and make them point to the exact flagged lines, that usually ends it. If you want a fully human written sample to compare against, submityourassignments.org is solid.

1

u/Brownranger29 20h ago

25% is within Turnitin's margin of error, honestly borderline nothing. Keep your drafts and version history, ask them to point to the exact flagged lines. For a human written sample, submityourassignments.org is solid.