--- title: "OpenAI Has Software That Detects AI Writing With 99.9 Percent Accuracy, Refuses to Release It" description: "ChatGPT creator OpenAI has reportedly developed effective tools for marking and tracking AI-generated content. Why isn't it releasing them?" date: "2024-08-05" modified: "2024-08-05" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-software-detects-ai-writing" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai safety" - "ai-generated content" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI Has Software That Detects AI Writing With 99.9 Percent Accuracy, Refuses to Release It ![ChatGPT creator OpenAI has reportedly developed effective tools for marking and tracking AI-generated content. Why isn't it releasing them?]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Water Marker ChatGPT creator OpenAI has developed internal tools for watermarking and tracking AI-generated content with 99.9 percent accuracy, [the ]()[*Wall Street Journal* reports]() — but is refusing to release it. Effective tools for flagging AI-generated text could be useful in any number of situations, from cracking down on cheating students to sorting through the AI-generated sludge filling the web. Which is why it's so surprising that OpenAI, as the *WSJ* reports, has been quietly hanging onto tools that could do exactly that. "It’s just a matter of pressing a button," a source familiar with the project told the *WSJ*. ## Bot Detector Per the *WSJ*, OpenAI began to discuss the need for a functional watermarking tool, or software that embeds an artifact denoting a piece of content as AI-generated, upon the release of ChatGPT in 2022. The software in question was created shortly thereafter, and according to internal documents is known to function with 99.9 percent accuracy when applied to "enough" ChatGPT-created text. But OpenAI has waffled on whether it should release the tool. According to the *WSJ*, in April 2023, an OpenAI-conducted global survey found overwhelming support amongst the general public for implementing watermarking tools. Another survey conducted the same month among OpenAI's users, however, found that 30 percent of its customer base said they would stop using ChatGPT if it started deploying watermarks and a competing company didn't. As the *WSJ* put it, this latter survey has "loomed large" over further watermarking discussions. A spokesperson for OpenAI told the *WSJ* that the company's hesitation comes down to an abundance of caution. "The text watermarking method we're developing is technically promising but has important risks we're weighing while we research alternatives," said the spokesperson. "We believe the deliberate approach we've taken is necessary given the complexities involved and its likely impact on the broader ecosystem beyond OpenAI." (After the *WSJ's* report was published, [ *TechCrunch* noticed]() that OpenAI [updated a previously published blog post]() about its watermarking efforts.) But while we're as much in favor of AI risk mitigation as the next guy, this is a wildly paradoxical line for OpenAI to take. ChatGPT, which is now just one of OpenAI's many AI tools, has been in public hands for years now. It's hard to see what could be so risky about introducing its watermarking software — beyond OpenAI's need to grow and maintain its userbase, that is. **More on OpenAI:** [*OpenAI'S GPT-4o Voice Mode Says It Needs to Breathe*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()