Non-English academics face inequality via AI-generated essays and countermeasure tools
Abstract
The recent introduction of ChatGPT by OpenAI has broadly introduced artificially intelligent (AI) tools as writing aids to the general public. We examined the limits of available detection tools in identifying writing that was fully aided by AI. Short essays (fewer than 400 words) were written by humans in two languages (English, Malay) or were procedurally generated with ChatGPT in four languages (English, Malay, Mandarin, Japanese). Malay, Mandarin, and Japanese essays were translated into English and paraphrased using a paraphrasing tool. All of the essays were then examined with three AI-detection tools available online. All of the English essays generated with the aid of AI were flagged as AI generated, including the AI-translated or paraphrased, non-English, human-written essays. This raises serious concerns for the academic world, especially non-English academics, in clarifying the differences between AI-generated and AI-aided essays in new policies. Blanket policies completely banning all AI tools may put nonnative English speakers at a disadvantage.
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Non-native English speakers face a structural inequality that operates prior to and independent of any individual detection event: they must already navigate higher barriers in English-medium academic environments.
“they must already navigate higher barriers in English-medium academic environments”
From ARE AI DETECTORS FAIR TO EFL LEARNERS? A LIBRARY RESEARCH ON DETECTION BIAS AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY (2026) · cites this paper as Wee & Reimer, 2023
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References 6 · Cited by 8
- Authors
- Wee, H. B., & Reimer, J. D.
- Affiliations
- National University of Malaysia (MY)
- University of the Ryukyus (JP)
- Venue
- BioScience
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2023-04-29
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 476-478
- ISSN
- 0006-3568 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-3244
- OpenAlex
- W4367395734
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 2.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- BioScience (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Academic integrity and plagiarism
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Authorship Attribution and Profiling
- Keywords
- AI-generated text detection, ChatGPT, non-native English speakers, educational inequity, AI detection tools, machine translation, language barriers in science
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