For students, educators & researchers

Academic AI Detector

Check essays, research papers, and theses for AI-generated text. Paste your writing or upload a document to take a closer look before you submit, teach, or publish.

Essays & assignmentsResearch papersTheses & dissertations
AI DETECTOR
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Text AI detection · tropa-30 words

Aim for at least 100 words of continuous writing. Short passages provide less context.

AI scores are guidance, not proof of authorship. Review results alongside drafts, sources, and the writer’s explanation.

Measured with tropa-3 · September 2026

AI detection, backed by research

See how our model performs on original AI output, human writing, and text edited with humanizer tools.

Raw AI text detected
95%
95.2% of 207 unedited texts from current models such as GPT-6 and Claude Opus 5.5.
False-positive rate
0.1%
0.10% of 239,490 held-out human texts flagged at the same threshold.
Humanized AI text detected
58%
57.7% of 286 texts processed by six humanizer tools.

September 2026 benchmark and a 239,490-text human holdout. A text counts as detected at a score of 90 or more. Results vary by language, text type, and editing.

Read the September 2026 benchmark
Evaluation method and academic writing

Detection rate measures the share of known AI texts flagged. False-positive rate measures the share of human texts flagged. The figures above come from our own benchmark and holdout; they are not an overall accuracy score for every assignment. The human texts include student and learner essays (PERSUADE, TOEFL, ELLIPSE), where detectors most often accuse real students. View the public benchmark, samples, and scoring criteria.

Highest raw AI detection rate in our September 2026 comparison

Ahead of GPTZero, Pangram and ZeroGPT

WasItAIGenerated’s tropa-3 detected more raw AI text than GPTZero, Pangram and ZeroGPT in this benchmark, which included output from GPT-6, Claude Opus 5.5 and Gemini 3.8.

Raw AI text detected

Higher is better · 159 passages

WasItAIGeneratedtropa-3

Highest detection rate of the four

95.6%

Human reference texts flagged: 0 of 247 (0.0%)

GPTZero

61.6%

Human reference texts flagged: 0 of 247 (0.0%)

Pangram

44%

Human reference texts flagged: 0 of 247 (0.0%)

ZeroGPT

21.4%

Human reference texts flagged: 2 of 247 (0.8%)

September 24–25, 2026 · 513 texts scored by all four tools · Confident AI labels only; mixed labels excluded. The AI texts come from models tropa-3 was trained on, which may favor it.

From draft to review

How to check academic writing for AI

From a passage to a closer look

Workflow illustration
Draft excerpt · illustrative

The study compares interviews from two communities. The findings suggest that local context shapes participation. The next section examines the evidence behind this conclusion.

A passage to inspect in context
  1. Read the overall result

    Start with the document-level AI assessment.

  2. Inspect individual sentences

    Use sentence-level scores to choose passages for a closer look.

  3. Make an informed review

    Check sources, drafting history and context before drawing a conclusion.

Illustrative review workflow, not a detection result. Highlighted wording is invented and does not indicate AI authorship. Sentence-level analysis is available with Unlimited on the website.
  1. 01

    Add your academic writing

    Paste a passage from an essay, paper, or thesis. For a longer document, sign in and upload a PDF or DOCX.

  2. 02

    Run the AI check

    Get an AI-detection score and analysis. Subscribers can enable deep analysis on pasted text for individual sentence scores.

  3. 03

    Review the result in context

    Read the passage alongside its sources and earlier drafts. Use the result to guide a closer review of the work.

One checker for every stage of academic writing

From a first assignment to a final dissertation, bring more context to your review.

Coursework

Essays & assignments

Check coursework, argumentative essays, and written assignments before submission. Students can review their drafts alongside their notes; teachers can use the result to identify passages for a closer discussion of the writing process.

Research

Papers & literature reviews

Review introductions, literature reviews, and discussion sections in a research paper. Check a continuous passage to see its AI score, then examine how the claims connect to the cited studies and your own research findings.

Long-form writing

Theses & dissertations

Check a bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis, or doctoral dissertation as it develops. Paste individual chapters or upload a PDF or DOCX, and keep the resulting report with your draft history for a documented review before submission.

Academic writing across languages

Check German texts and other languages

Working on a German Hausarbeit, a French research paper, or a Spanish dissertation? Submit your writing in its original language. Alongside the English research above, we have evaluated German AI writing and human reference texts across six European languages.

German AI-text evaluation

95.3%

Scored 90+ · AI-generated

Tested on 300 German AI texts

286 of 300 German texts generated with GPT-4o and GPT-5.5 reached the AI-generated band. All 300 reached at least the likely-AI band (70+). The sample included argumentative writing, literary interpretation, and university abstracts.

Internal evaluation of tropa-2, our previous model · August 31, 2026 · Raw generated text

How often was human writing flagged?

We also tested pre-2022 reference web texts from FineWeb-2. These results measure false positives at a score of 90 or above, using document scoring. The language samples below are web writing; AI-detection rates and results on student work need their own evaluation.

Language evaluation on reference web texts. Flagged means a score of 90 or above.
LanguageTexts testedTexts flaggedFalse-positive rate
GermanDeutsch15,88140.025%
FrenchFrançais15,95860.038%
SpanishEspañol15,98670.044%
ItalianItaliano16,07110.006%
PortuguesePortuguês16,04170.044%
DutchNederlands15,90000.000%
Language evaluation notes and data

We ran these evaluations ourselves on tropa-2, our previous model, on August 31, 2026. Crawl dates before 2022 serve as a proxy for human authorship; the samples are not student-essay collections. The table reports observed errors on human reference texts, and a zero in a finite sample does not imply a zero error rate on future writing. AI recall for French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch was not measured in this evaluation. The German raw-AI results use a separate set of 300 generated texts. The 70-point and 90-point thresholds describe different levels of detection and should be compared separately.

View language results and sample counts (JSON)

For a German Bachelorarbeit or Masterarbeit, you can also use the AI Thesis Checker to review structure, argumentation, and citations. Keep the original language when checking authorship signals: a score on an English translation describes the translated text.

Make sense of the score

Keep the writing process in view

An AI score estimates whether text shows patterns associated with generated writing. It does not verify sources, establish plagiarism, or tell you whether AI use was permitted for an assignment.

Read any flagged passages in context. A student’s outline, revision history, research notes, and explanation can help you understand how the work developed.

Read about AI detection and academic integrity

Before you interpret a result

  • Check a continuous passage with enough context; aim for at least 100 words.
  • Consider quotations, references, and the purpose of the passage.
  • Keep earlier drafts and source notes available for review.
  • Discuss concerns with the writer before drawing conclusions.
Why text length matters

A practical guide to academic AI checking

How to review an essay, paper, or thesis

A useful academic AI check starts with a clear question about the writing. You might be reviewing a draft before submission, checking a manuscript for publication, or preparing feedback for a student. Choose the passage, read the analysis, and connect the result to the work behind the document.

Choose the right passage from your paper

Start with a section that contains the author’s own continuous prose: an introduction, an analysis, or a discussion of results. A title page, contents list, equation, or reference list gives a different kind of input from a written argument. A passage of at least 100 words provides more context than an isolated sentence.

For a short essay, paste the writing directly into the checker. For a longer research paper or dissertation, upload the document or review chapters separately. Checking a particular chapter can make it easier to connect the result to the material you are revising.

Read our text-length evaluation

Read quotations and citations in context

Academic writing often brings several voices together: direct quotations, descriptions of earlier studies, and the author’s own conclusions. When reviewing an AI score, establish which passages belong to the author and which are attributed to another source. Sentence-level deep analysis on pasted text can help subscribers locate the passages behind a result.

An AI writing detector does not verify whether a source exists or whether a quotation is accurate. Follow the citation back to the original publication and check that it supports the claim. Keep those source checks alongside the AI report when you review a manuscript.

Explore structure and citation review

Understand AI detection and plagiarism checking

An academic AI checker estimates whether writing shows patterns associated with generated text. A plagiarism checker compares passages with existing sources to find similarities. These checks answer different questions: a generated paragraph may have no direct source match, while a copied human-written paragraph may receive a low AI score.

Use the AI result as part of your originality review, alongside citation checks and your course or publisher’s disclosure requirements. A low score does not establish that the work is original, and a high score alone does not explain which writing tools were used or whether their use was permitted.

Read our academic integrity guide

Build a review process around the result

For students, keep your outline, reading notes, and drafts as your assignment develops. If a passage needs a closer look, those materials show how you reached the argument and which sources informed it. Follow your institution’s rules for declaring AI assistance, including help with editing or translation.

For educators and research teams, begin with a sample of writing that reflects your subject, language, and document length. Review the scores with the text in front of you, discuss unclear passages with the writer, and use a consistent process across submissions. Departments can also explore the API for a custom review workflow.

AI detection for educators and institutions

Working on a thesis?

Take your review beyond AI detection

Our AI Thesis Checker also reviews structure, argumentation, consistency, and citations, with a prioritized list of improvements to work through before submission.

Academic AI detector FAQ

What is an academic AI detector?

An academic AI detector analyzes writing for patterns associated with AI-generated text. You can use it to review essays, assignments, research papers, and thesis chapters. The score is a signal to investigate alongside the writing process and supporting sources; it does not establish who wrote a document.

How accurate is the academic AI detector?

In our September 2026 benchmark, tropa-3 detected 95.2% of raw AI text from current models and 57.7% of humanized AI text, and flagged none of the 252 human texts it was compared on. On 239,490 held-out human texts it flagged 0.10%. The AI texts come from the same models and humanizers our detector was trained on, so treat these figures as an upper bound. The linked research explains the samples and scoring thresholds so you can interpret each figure in context.

How does WasItAIGenerated compare with GPTZero and ZeroGPT?

tropa-3 had the highest raw-AI detection rate of the four tools in our September 2026 benchmark: 95.6%, versus 61.6% for GPTZero, 44.0% for Pangram and 21.4% for ZeroGPT. On 247 human texts, tropa-3, GPTZero and Pangram flagged none and ZeroGPT flagged 2. The comparison counts confident AI labels, excluding mixed labels. The AI texts come from models our detector was trained on, so this is a result for that sample and scoring rule. The linked benchmark provides the full methodology.

Does the AI detector work with German academic writing?

Yes, you can check German essays, Hausarbeiten, research papers, and thesis chapters in the original language. In our August 31, 2026 evaluation of tropa-2, our previous model, all 300 German texts generated with GPT-4o and GPT-5.5 scored at least 70 (likely AI), and 286 scored at least 90 (AI-generated). At the 90-point threshold, 4 of 15,881 German reference web texts were flagged. These separate samples describe raw AI text and pre-2022 web writing, not a guarantee for every German academic document.

Which other languages can I check?

You can submit text in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch. We publish AI-detection results for English and a separate German sample. For French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch, the language table on this page reports false positives on pre-2022 reference web texts; it does not establish an AI-detection rate for those languages. Check writing in its original language and review the result with someone familiar with the text.

Should I translate a paper into English before checking it?

Check the original passage when your question concerns the original writing. Translation changes the wording and sentence structure, so a score on a translation describes that translation. It does not establish how the original paper was written. For a document containing several languages, reviewing passages separately helps keep the result tied to the text you want to assess.

Can I check a research paper or an entire thesis?

Yes. Paste a passage into the text checker, or sign in to upload a PDF or DOCX up to 10 MB. Document analysis extracts the text for checking and generates a report. If you also want feedback on argumentation, structure, and citations, use the separate AI Thesis Checker.

Is the academic AI detector free to try?

You can try text detection on this page without an account. Further checks use the existing account and credit system. Document uploads require sign-in and sufficient credits, and full sentence-level deep analysis requires a subscription. See the pricing page for current plans.

How much academic text should I check?

Use a continuous passage of at least 100 words where possible, and include more of the writing when available. A title, a short abstract, or a few isolated sentences gives the detector less context. Review the surrounding argument and any quoted material when interpreting the result.

Does AI detection also check for plagiarism?

No. AI detection looks for patterns associated with generated writing. Plagiarism checking compares text against existing sources. This tool does not provide a source-matching plagiarism check, and a low AI score does not confirm originality or citation accuracy.

Can it detect AI writing after paraphrasing or editing?

tropa-3 can identify some AI-generated writing after editing and can show a “possibly humanized” hint when that signal is present. In our September 2026 benchmark it detected 57.7% of text processed by six humanizer tools and 61.7% of paraphrased AI text. Paraphrasing, translation, and substantial rewriting can change the signal, so the absence of a flag does not establish that a passage was written without AI.

Can the result prove that a student used AI?

No. Both false positives and false negatives are possible. Review drafts, source notes, revision history, and the student’s explanation of their work. Use the result as one input to your institution’s review process, never as the sole basis for a grade or misconduct decision.