Submission + - 'Humanizer' tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists (nature.com)
joshuark writes: The scientific journal Nature reports that a new academic 'humanizer' tool aims to personalize the tone of research papers written with an artificial intelligence program, in part by erasing apparent signs of AI usage. Some researchers praise the tool, but others are voicing concerns about a new global era of AI slop, indirect plagiarism, and IP theft.
The new humanizer is "not sophisticated," says Max Spero, chief executive of a firm in New York City that produces an AI detection platform called Pangram. In his initial tests of 'humanized' text, Pangram caught most of the AI-generated language, although not all of it. Spero says that upgraded versions of Pangram are being designed specifically to detect humanizer use.
Scientists are increasingly turning to AI systems to help them write papers, grant applications, and even peer reviews. AI assistance can be a boon, particularly for people writing in a language that is not their first, and many publishers allow some degree of AI use in preparing papers if such use is declared.
Humanizers are finding increasing favor among researchers who use AI because different AIs all "sound the same," like Donald Trump's so-called "speeches" to the American sheep, people. The tone of AI-generated text is sometimes inappropriate for academic writing. For example, the tools can exaggerate the strength of a scientific claim, he says. And most AI output has a similar style, which readers tire of, he adds.
Those preferences are likely to lead to an "explosion" of the sort of personalized AI writing, says Richard She, a biologist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, who says he finds AI writing "depressing. " He predicts that within two years, text run through humanizers will be indistinguishable from human-written text. "The simple reality is that there's this amazing tool, and people will use it. And because they'll use it, they'll defend it."
The new humanizer is "not sophisticated," says Max Spero, chief executive of a firm in New York City that produces an AI detection platform called Pangram. In his initial tests of 'humanized' text, Pangram caught most of the AI-generated language, although not all of it. Spero says that upgraded versions of Pangram are being designed specifically to detect humanizer use.
Scientists are increasingly turning to AI systems to help them write papers, grant applications, and even peer reviews. AI assistance can be a boon, particularly for people writing in a language that is not their first, and many publishers allow some degree of AI use in preparing papers if such use is declared.
Humanizers are finding increasing favor among researchers who use AI because different AIs all "sound the same," like Donald Trump's so-called "speeches" to the American sheep, people. The tone of AI-generated text is sometimes inappropriate for academic writing. For example, the tools can exaggerate the strength of a scientific claim, he says. And most AI output has a similar style, which readers tire of, he adds.
Those preferences are likely to lead to an "explosion" of the sort of personalized AI writing, says Richard She, a biologist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, who says he finds AI writing "depressing. " He predicts that within two years, text run through humanizers will be indistinguishable from human-written text. "The simple reality is that there's this amazing tool, and people will use it. And because they'll use it, they'll defend it."
