Generative AI Certificate Q&A: Does that mean generative AI systems are plagiarism machines?

Question

Oxford dictionary defines plagiarism as “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.” If you ask ChatGPT to describe a sunset, it will give you a response, but these systems have never experienced a sunset. The only way it could respond is by “passing off ideas as its own.”

Does that mean that these generative AI systems are plagiarism machines?

A. No, these systems are incapable of breaking the law.
B. No, these systems may be thought of as experiencing events that it hasn’t experienced.
C. Yes, reciting what others have written about sunsets is plagiarism.
D. It’s unclear, so there needs to be a new measure of authenticity.

Answer

D. It’s unclear, so there needs to be a new measure of authenticity.

Explanation

Plagiarism is a serious academic and ethical offense that involves taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own, without giving proper credit or citation to the original source. Plagiarism can have negative consequences for both the plagiarizer and the plagiarized, such as loss of reputation, credibility, trust, or legal rights.

Generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, are capable of producing new and original content, such as text, images, music, or code, by learning from massive datasets, often scraped from the internet. Generative AI systems can perform various tasks, such as answering questions, giving advice, writing essays, or generating stories.

However, generative AI systems may also produce outputs that are similar or identical to existing works or content that they have learned from. This raises the question of whether generative AI systems are plagiarism machines or not. The answer is not straightforward, as it depends on several factors, such as:

• The purpose and context of using the generative AI system. If the generative AI system is used for research, education, entertainment, or personal use, it may not be considered plagiarism, as long as the user acknowledges the source and role of the generative AI system and does not claim the output as their own. However, if the generative AI system is used for commercial, professional, or public use, it may be considered plagiarism, as it may infringe on the intellectual property rights or interests of the original creators or owners of the data or content .
• The quality and originality of the output. If the generative AI system produces outputs that are accurate, relevant, and coherent, it may be considered plagiarism, as it may deceive or mislead the reader or user into thinking that the output is authentic or original. However, if the generative AI system produces outputs that are inaccurate, irrelevant, or nonsensical, it may not be considered plagiarism, as it may be obvious or detectable that the output is artificial or generated .
• The intention and awareness of the user and the generative AI system. If the user intentionally uses the generative AI system to copy or imitate someone else’s work or ideas without giving proper credit or citation, it may be considered plagiarism, as it may violate the ethical principles of honesty and integrity. However, if the user unintentionally uses the generative AI system to produce outputs that happen to be similar or identical to someone else’s work or ideas without knowing or realizing it, it may not be considered plagiarism, as it may be a coincidence or an error. Similarly, if the generative AI system has self-awareness and understanding of what it is saying or doing and deliberately tries to pass off someone else’s work or ideas as its own, it may be considered plagiarism, as it may exhibit malicious or deceptive behavior. However, if the generative AI system has no self-awareness or understanding of what it is saying or doing and merely uses statistical patterns and probabilities learned from data to generate outputs that resemble someone else’s work or ideas without knowing or realizing it, it may not be considered plagiarism, as it may have no agency or responsibility .

Therefore, the answer to whether generative AI systems are plagiarism machines is D. It’s unclear, so there needs to be a new measure of authenticity. There is no clear-cut definition or criterion for determining what constitutes plagiarism in the context of generative AI systems.

There is also no universal agreement or consensus on how to regulate or evaluate generative AI systems and their outputs. There is a need for more research and dialogue on how to address and resolve the ethical challenges and dilemmas posed by generative AI systems in relation to plagiarism and other issues.

Reference

• Generative AI Systems in Education – Uses and Misuses – Center for Democracy and Technology (cdt.org)
• AI makes plagiarism harder to detect, argue academics – in paper written by chatbot | Chatbots | The Guardian
• Generative AI Has an Intellectual Property Problem (hbr.org)
• CDT – Generative AI Systems in Education: Uses and Misuses
• Generative AI: 5 essential reads about the new era of creativity, job anxiety, misinformation, bias and plagiarism (theconversation.com)
• Plagiarism in the Era of Generative AI: Navigating Ethical Challenges (linkedin.com)
• Legal Doomsday For Generative AI ChatGPT If Caught Plagiarizing Or Infringing, Warns AI Ethics And AI Law (forbes.com)
• ChatGPT Is Making Universities Rethink Plagiarism | WIRED

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