If it's a lot of students, then you likely need to rethink using essays and the like. Not that they aren't useful when done honestl; they are incredible tools for having students learn.
But the near future is only going to be filled with this more and more. You're not likely to be able to outrun OpenAI and GPT3 on your own. Heck, even the whole CS department isn't going to outrun these companies. In fact, it's not a bad idea to put your essays through such tools to see what comes out and then build from there.
The nature of learning and education is changing very fast these days and clinging to the old models and methods isn't likely to be the best strat. Innovate, try new things, talk with your students, brainstorm, etc.
I’m not sure I would talk the student about AI at all. I would talk to them about the subject matter.
I think that is the obvious solution to detect this. Does the student know the material when “offline”?
Maybe you get a few anxious people who can’t talk about a topic they know - but that sure does seem like training for the real world.
"Write a persuasive essay regarding why the essay you're writing deserves the grade you choose based upon your knowledge of persuasive writing techniques and your classroom participation."
2. The pedagogical intervention depends heavily on whether the student is cheating or just FAR below grade-level.
3. the student likely won't be truthful.
4. Even if we assume the student will tell the truth, if they aren't using an LLM and you accuse them of doing so it's going to crush the student and make teaching that pupil close to impossible.
Teachers are teachers, not proctors.