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Comment by vunderba | Hacker News Reader

My ad-hoc radar for GPT generated text is:

  1. Is the writer a 5th grade student?
  No --> GOTO 2
  2. Is the text structured like an MLA 5-paragraph essay with prosaic and insipid content?
  Yes --> GOTO 3
  3. Does the final paragraph contain some variant of the phrase "in conclusion"?
  Yes --> High probability of being LLM generated

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Could it be the training data contained a large trove of generic essays used by college students to cheat on writing assignments?

I mean, maybe it's already been suggested, but I haven't seen anyone come right out and say it.

Your wording is interesting--I don't think you're wrong, but mentally rephrased as "a large trove of essays in the generic format mandated by teachers".

It seems tragic that so many students were/are forced into this mechanical turk without pay, for work that is meant to be discarded, in a format that is flatly unacceptable, and now suspicious, in any other context.

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