Impact of AI on Plagiarism in Education

This report presents findings on the influence of generative AI on plagiarism rates in education over a 13-month period, from January 2023 to January 2024. The study, conducted by Copyleaks, analyzes anonymized data from tens of thousands of college and high school students who utilized AI Content Detector and Plagiarism Detector tools. The report reveals that while the prevalence of AI-generated content in student assignments increased significantly, plagiarism remained a persistent issue. Specifically, 11.21% of all assignments contained some form of AI-generated content, with a notable increase in usage from January to February 2023. The analysis also highlights geographic and institutional variations in AI and plagiarism rates, suggesting that despite a decrease in plagiarism rates as AI use grew, it did not eliminate the occurrence of plagiarism. The findings underscore the necessity for educational organizations to implement comprehensive solutions for detecting both AI-generated content and plagiarism to maintain academic integrity.