How to paraphrase with AI and avoid plagiarism
ChatGPT prompts for effective citing and rewriting
Is AI generated content plagiarism?
Well, technically speaking, it's not.
Plagiarism, at its core, involves taking someone else's work and passing it off as your own.
AI tools have the capability to create the original content from scratch, which would mean their outputs bypass any plagiarism concerns.
However, if the AI looks for the existing information online and then rephrase it to create seemingly new content in a way that it doesn’t get flagged as duplicated, that would be considered plagiarism.
If you use information from any source without later quoting it and giving credits to the author, the text is essentially plagiarised.
What is more, if you are a student, most teachers consider AI content equal with the plagiarised content, they don’t differentiate between the two types of text generating methods.
Is writing with AI ethical?
A lot of people see AI writing as unethical because you present a text as your own, when in fact it was AI that helped you create it.
It might seem unfair to take credits for something that you didn’t develop yourself.
The problem is widely spread in the academic sphere – you can pass your classes with AI generated essays without any basic knowledge on the subject and no real effort put into writing about it.
Same comes to the online writing – whole blog’s content can be created without even one original idea from the author.
There are ways of making your AI created content sound more personal – I mentioned in the article on writing LinkedIn posts with ChatGPT: https://productiveimpact.com/p/how-to-write-a-linkedin-post-with-chatgpt
However, the question stands: should some areas be left AI-free for the writters be able to fully take credit and pride of their achievements or is it just silly not to possibilites that AI offers us?
Prompts for paraphrasing without plagiarism using ChatGPT
While generating a whole text using AI tools might seem controversial, using ChatGPT to save time and effort on paraphrasing quotes from the chosen sources is a worthwhile idea.
To paraphrase your content correctly you should remember about a few rules:
use synonyms wisely - avoid pompous vocabulary or being repetitive.
mix up the order of ideas - try to make them easy to follow and engaging.
keep quotes short and to the point - don’t make your readers confused or bored.
add personal touch - include your own conclusions drawn on the topic (not obligatory).
I give ChatGPT the following input:
Paraphrase the following quote below.
Remember not to use pompous vocabulary.
Avoid repetitions.
Change the order of the ideas.
Keep the language formal yet simple.
Make the text easy to follow by an average reader.
(here paste your quote)
I chose a fragment from the article on the impact of AI on the student-instructor relation during online courses, which I found online: https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-021-00292-9
In online learning environments, communication refers to questions and answers between students and the instructor about topics directly related to learning contents, such as instructional materials, assignments, discussions, and exams (Kang & Im, 2013). Students and instructors expect AI systems will positively impact the quantity and quality of communication between them but bears the risk causing miscommunication and responsibility issues, as described below.
And this is what I got:
Online learning involves students and instructors engaging in discussions about course materials, assignments, and exams. Both parties anticipate that AI systems will enhance their communication in terms of both quantity and quality. However, there are concerns about potential misunderstandings and issues of accountability associated with this reliance on AI technology.
Conclusions
AI tools can create original content, but if they simply rephrase existing information to avoid detection, then the ethical boarders are crossed.
However, I think AI can be a valuable help for paraphrasing texts still keeping the work original and giving the credits to the authors of the sources.
Ultimately, the balance between leveraging AI tools and keeping individual creativity is a complex question that doesn’t have one right answer.
I plan on using ChatGPT to make my paraphrasing processes smoother and quicker.
Save your time as well and explore the options ChatGPT gives us when it comes to rephrasing any sources!
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