Bassett, Mark Andrew, Bradshaw, Wayne, Bornsztejn, Hannah, Hogg, Alyce, Murdoch, Kane, Pearce, Bridget, and Webber, Colin (2026) Heads we win, tails you lose: AI detectors in education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. (In Press)

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Abstract

The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in student assessment has led to institutional reliance on detection tools. Unlike plagiarism detection, AI detection relies on unverifiable probabilistic estimates. In this paper, we argue that generative AI detection should not be used in education due to its methodological imperfections, violation of procedural fairness, and unverifiable outputs. Generative AI detectors cannot be tested in real-world conditions where the true origin of a text is unknown. Attempts to validate results through linguistic markers, multiple tools, or comparisons with past work introduce confirmation bias rather than independent verification. Moreover, categorising text as human- or AI-generated imposes a false dichotomy that ignores work created with, not by, AI. Generative AI detection also raises security concerns. Academic integrity investigations must rely on evidence meeting the balance of probabilities standard, which generative AI detection scores do not satisfy.

Item ID:	90433
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1469-9508
Keywords:	Artificial intelligence detection, generative artificial intelligence, academic integrity, higher education, procedural fairness
Copyright Information:	© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2026 03:39
FoR Codes:	39 EDUCATION > 3902 Education policy, sociology and philosophy > 390201 Education policy @ 100%
SEO Codes:	16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 1602 Schools and learning environments > 160205 Policies and development @ 100%
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