How accurate are AI Detector tools for picking human vs robot copywriting?

With the rise of AI like ChatGPT, Google has updated a ranking factor to determine whether your copy is human or robotic.

More and more businesses are aware of this and, as a result, run their copy through AI detector tools like Copyleaks.

As a copywriter, this is a tool that I’ve added to my checklist before I submit work to a client. Why?

Let me tell you a quick story.

Why an AI detector tool made me cry

Recently I was working on a large project for a company. It wasn’t copywriting in my comfort zone as it was very techy (i.e. not fun and light-hearted).

You know when you have that gut feeling that screams, ‘Say no to this one’? Well, I didn’t listen as I’m too much of a people pleaser.

They’re the first 2 lessons– listen to your gut reaction and learn to say no.

There was a lot of copy to be written. Boring copy. With lots of jargon words. Words you can’t say in very many ways to make them sound sexy. Do you get the point of how much I enjoyed this one?

Long story short, the client kept feeding back about my posts being flagged in an AI detector tool.

I honestly cried. I had taken ages to digest the info, rewrite it, and 100% legit wrote it myself. It was boring and mundane, and I guess I turned into a robot while writing it.

I’ve been writing SEO copy since 2009, and I’ve never felt this deflated.

BUT, I’ve learnt to stick to fun, light-hearted copywriting from now on – no more techy stuff for me – EVER!

I decided I wanted to test the accuracy of an AI detector tool.

I entered a 100% purely Mon written blog into Copyleaks

Back to my fun clients…

I write a monthly blog for a pet sitter/dog walker. She sends me a topic (with no info), and I write it all from scratch.

This is my jam. I love animals and have pets of my own.

My blogs for her are always straight from my heart with things I’ve learnt from personal experience or from hearing stories from a young chick I know who works at the RSPCA.

After writing my dog sitter’s blog this month, I wondered what would happen when I ran it through the AI detector.

93% human.

So apparently, 7% of my writing style is still flagged as being robotic!

As another example, I just ran the start of this blog through the detector, and it’s 90% human. I’ve been sitting here for half an hour pouring my heart out, and it’s still not 100% human.

What’s a human copywriter meant to do?

The good news is I did get the green tick so that Google wouldn’t flag it.

But come on – I’m 100% human!

Let’s do a test with human vs ChatGPT copy through an AI detector

Let’s do a quick test using a love story to show you what I mean.

Here’s mine – straight from the heart.

“It was a stinking hot summer’s day. The kind of day you need a quiet bevvy on the beach while you’re scrolling through online dating apps to find your Prince Charming. She had asked the universe to send her a decent man who wasn’t a toad with super annoying middle-aged men hang-ups. When he popped up, her heart skipped a beat. Could he be THAT perfect? He arrived at the beach an hour later, roses in one hand and a six pack in the other. From that moment, she knew she had met the man of her dreams.”

This is what the AI detector said:

99.9% – I was so close! And, of course, it’s acceptable and will pass. But it’s still not 100%!

So I asked ChatGPT to write me a short love story:

Here’s what the AI detector tool had to say:

Ok, it picked up that it was written purely by a bot, but it’s still not 100%!

I thought maybe a love story is a bit wishy-washy, so I thought I’d write about why a male dog lifts its leg to pee!

‘Male dogs lift their legs to pee because they can. And some of them are pretty clever. They can start on one side and then switch to another. A male dog loves to mark their territory, so by lifting their leg to pee, they can reach higher levels of the tree and give the impression that they’re a larger dog.’

(I didn’t correct any grammar etc., in this).

Here’s what the AI tool said:

This time I’m only 90.2% human!

Let’s check in with ChatGPT again and get a bot to write:

Not bad! But let’s see what the AI tool says:

Wow! Human text – but only 18%.

I am still baffled as to how they determine human vs robot copywriting and why some copy is only 18% human and still ticked. 

Maybe the accuracy increases with a larger volume of words. 

What role should AI detector tools play in your copywriting process?

It’s a tool. And probably one that many businesses will start using to ensure they won’t be picked up for having AI content by Google.

I’m going to be using it.

I already use (and love) Grammarly for grammar and plagiarism checks, but I’ve added Copyleaks for my AI detection. I’ve downloaded it as a Chrome Browser extension (it was free), so I can quickly pop in the copy I want to check.

I wouldn’t take the results as the be-all and end-all. As you can see from the above, it’s a bit hit-and-miss, and I don’t believe it’ll ever give you a 100% rating.

BUT, if it helps you to know that Google will recognise your copy as human, use it.

I’ll get over being super sensitive one day and know that I write from the heart, and if I sometimes sound a little robotic, so be it (and maybe that explains a bit of my weird personality!).

Do you need help writing your copy from a trained human copywriter?

As I’m levelling up my bot-busting game with copywriting, you can be assured that I’m doing all the extra checks to ensure your copy will always be loved by Google.

From using your keywords, writing with a human personality, checking the grammar and running it through an AI detector, you can be assured your content will be Google-worthy.

Please send me an email, and let’s connect to chat about your copywriting needs.