Can AI DETECTORS be WRONG?

Some of you may not believe this … or may not want to hear it

YES – they CAN be wrong, in fact I assume they are all wrong these days, because there is no way to guarantee they are RIGHT.

So I like to ask, WHY do you want to prove something is AI-created?

Do you want to shame a person, business, competitor or website?

If so, perhaps there are other avenues to go down to discredit them if that’s really what you want to do.

AI – artificial intelligence – is a new arena, it’s the Wild Wild West and we, as average users, have no control over it.

 

I did tests using my own text and my own paintings and drawings

If you’re wondering why I’m wondering about these AI Detectors, it’s because I uploaded several of my own photos of my hand-painted designs, and they were each flagged as “AI” – when I am the artist, I did the paintings, and took the photos and uploaded them to the sites which state they can tell if something’s AI-generated or not.

• So my results – 100% wrong.

I tried similar tests with TEXT, books, articles etc which I’ve written myself (I’ve been a prolific writer for my whole life).

• Hmmmm bad news – each text item I uploaded to different sites flagged each one as partially “AI created”.
• This is of course 100% incorrect, and proved again to me that there is no 100% guaranteed way to prove one way or the other when using these online “AI Detector” services.

Results of ONE of my own images uploaded

I created this image below, I came up with and designed the “person” and added one of my own book covers, and this is the result:

• AI DETECTED? Yes, 6.97%

This is to show you that it’s pretty impossible for an AI DETECTOR to ascertain what’s been created by a human :-(

The point I’d like to share with you is that:

1. we cannot accept that AI Detectors “know” the truth, the reality
2. we should take all results with a grain of salt (remember that wonderful old saying?)
3. we should be cautious and not jump to any conclusion.

Daily I see people writing/commenting on Facebook and saying with indignation, “That’s AI!!” – when in fact no-one can deduct that, especially not websites :-)

 

A quick search on Google shows the following detail:

Types of Errors

• False positives: Flagging 10% to over 27% of genuine human-written academic or professional work as AI-generated.

• False negatives: Missing 15% to 30% of actual AI-generated text, particularly if the content has been lightly paraphrased or edited.

• Bias errors: Disproportionately misclassifying essays written by non-native (ESL) English speakers or neurodivergent writers because their natural syntax deviates from standard training datasets.

Have you been wondering:

Why Detectors Fail

• Predictable human patterns: Structured, formal, or uniform human writing closely mirrors the statistical patterns algorithms associate with machines.
  National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov)

• Easy evasion: Simple prompt tweaks, minor typos, or light manual rewrites can trick detectors into missing AI text or misidentifying human text.
  EdScoop +1

• Lack of context: Detectors rely on probability scores rather than proof, meaning they guess based on word patterns instead of knowing how a document was created.

Articles cited in the Google search above:

1. National Institutes of Health https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12331776/ 
2. Edscoop – https://edscoop.com/ai-detectors-are-easily-fooled-researchers-find/
3. Winston AI https://gowinston.ai/how-often-are-ai-detectors-wrong/

 

How to prove you didn’t use AI?

Proving you did not use AI requires showing your working process: version history, draft notes, and research trails. Because AI detectors only measure statistical probability and frequently produce false positives, you cannot definitively prove a negative with a score alone. Instead, you must rely on concrete metadata and personal context –  https://libguides.hiu.edu/c.php?g=168882&p=10227562

What to do as an artist, writer, creative person?

DOCUMENT what you’re doing, step-by-step

1. take photos as you create art etc
2. if you are creating on the computer/ipad etc, take SCREENSHOTS which will include the date in the INFO saved with every single screenshot
3. every photo and every screenshot stores this INFO and it can easily be seen if you know where to look, for example I use a Macbook and I can “GET INFO” if I select (but don’t open) an image file or a screenshot file on my laptop, hold the Command key and press “I” for INFORMATION – then I can READ the details
4. this can also be done on a Windows PC using Alt + Enter
5. you may be surprised at just HOW MUCH INFO is provided :D

What to do next?

Perhaps this Guide on how to manage false accusations and present your edit history effectively can help:

How to Handle an AI Detector False Positive (And Prove You Didn’t Cheat)

 

Did this information help on Can AI DETECTORS be WRONG?

I hope this short overvied has been helpful – please do let me know – I’m happy to clarify and provide more info if you need it :-)

Here are a few ways to get in touch with me:

• on my website
• on YouTube
• on Facebook
• if you’re in Australia, feel free to call or text me on 0408-801-808
• if you’re calling from outside Australia, feel free to call or text me DURING THE RIGHT TIME ZONE TIME on +61-408-801-808 (for example US and Canada, dial 011-61-408-801-808)