Mr Branding: The GPTZero vs. Turnitin Battle for Academic AI Supremacy

Monday, June 5, 2023

The GPTZero vs. Turnitin Battle for Academic AI Supremacy

GPTZero has taken the academic world by storm, positioning itself as a frontrunner in transforming how professors identify the incorporation of AI in student assignments. Nevertheless, it encounters fierce competition from well-established players such as Turnitin, which has bolstered its anti-plagiarism tools by integrating AI content detection capabilities. The widespread use of AI-powered text generators has sparked an extensive debate on job applications, sales pitches, and the legitimacy of essays. This has prompted stakeholders in the education and business realms to actively seek methods to differentiate between content crafted by human beings and that generated by AI bots.

Since its introduction in January, GPTZero, created by a skilled undergraduate from Princeton University, has rapidly gained popularity. The platform experienced an astounding 5.5 M visits in April alone, and projections from Similarweb suggest that this number will surpass 5.9 M in May. These remarkable figures firmly establish GPTZero as the top contender in the realm of AI content detection, focusing solely on this specialized field.

In recent developments, Turnitin, a reputable academic tool, has expanded its offerings by incorporating AI detection tools for content alongside its existing anti-plagiarism features. The platform has experienced a notable surge in popularity, with an estimated visit count of more than 17 M in May, representing an 11.5 percent increase compared to the previous year. Furthermore, educational institutions are embracing AI content detection by integrating it into their learning management systems, underscoring the increasing significance of this technology in academia.

OpenAI, the mastermind behind the development of ChatGPT, has recently launched its own text classifier designed to distinguish between content generated by ChatGPT and other sources. Although it may not enjoy the same widespread adoption as certain commercial alternatives, OpenAI's solution garnered considerable attention in April and attracted a total of 861,700 visits predominantly from desktop web traffic.

Numerous online platforms provide AI content detection tools with the intention of supporting copywriters and content creators in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. Interestingly, a significant portion of the traffic these websites receive is predominantly focused on their AI content detection pages. Noteworthy statistics reveal that approximately 61 percent to copyleaks.com, 80 percent of the traffic to writer.com, and 85 percent to contentatscale.ai is specifically driven by users seeking AI content detection capabilities.

In order to offer a comprehensive perspective, we analyze the top websites that provide AI content detection tools free of charge or on a trial basis, excluding Turnitin. One notable contender is GPTZero, a platform born out of the limited resources of a 22-year-old named Edward Tian. Initially, GPTZero's primary goal was to assist professors in detecting the use of AI in students' work. Over time, the company has expanded its team by recruiting AI Ph.Ds and has recently secured an impressive $3.5 million in funding.

While many of the domains listed are multi-service companies, GPTZero stands out as the exception, ranking highest among these emerging platforms focused solely on AI content detection. By examining desktop web traffic related to AI content detection, Writer emerges as the second most popular tool, garnering around 3 M visits in April, trailing closely behind GPTZero's estimated 5 M visits.

Turnitin, a widely recognized and long-standing academic tool, maintains a significantly higher level of user engagement compared to GPTZero, emphasizing its continued relevance and importance within the academic community.

AI text generators like ChatGPT have presented challenges in academic and professional contexts. Institutions are grappling with usage guidelines as students and professionals use AI to enhance their work, sometimes blurring ethical boundaries. However, these tools may mistakenly identify student work as AI-generated, especially for non-native English speakers.