Issuu

@THECALIFORNIAAGGIE

SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THEAGGIE.ORG

@CALIFORNIAAGGIE

VOLUME 146, ISSUE 20 | THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2023

Student, faculty discuss the use AI detectors at universities after reports of false academic dishonesty accusations

These tools have emerged to prevent academic use of ChatGPT, but how accurately can they detect the AI site’s work?

BY RACHEL GAUER

campus@theaggie.org On Nov. 30, 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chat-based artificial intelligence (AI) tool that uses AI to respond to users’ questions and requests. Although the platform has gained popularity due to the

convenience of its capabilities, which range from answering simple questions to writing full essays, ChatGPT users have since learned of several downfalls of the site, including the service occasionally providing false information and writing produced by the platform being flagged for plagiarism. While universities and other academic settings have long dealt with plagiarism, as ChatGPT has rapidly become more popular, they have had to learn how to detect work authored by the program. Online detectors exist to check whether content was originally generated by AI, but some have publicly disclosed that their platforms are not always accurate. On e U C Da v i s undergraduate student was recently accused of using ChatGPT on an assignment. The student’s name has been kept anonymous per their request, as they are currently under investigation by the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA). “My advice to professors would always be [to

not] jump to using an AI classifier,” the student said. “First, do your own investigation and do it properly. Maybe try and compare the student’s writing to an example of their previous writing to see if the writing style remains relatively the same.” The student also commented on the potential flaws of the AI detector technology that many professors have begun to use. “The fact of the matter is that of the AI detectors available right now, none of them are accurate enough,” the student said. “As these Large Language Models become more and more advanced, the

text-classifiers to combat them are always going behind them.” Whitney Gegg-Harrison, an associate professor at the University of Rochester, recently published an article in which she outlined her stance against the use of AI detectors in screening student work, including via a platform called GPTZero. GPTZero is an artificial intelligence detection platform that was created by Edward Tian, who is a current undergraduate student at Princeton University. “The main thing I want people to understand about ‘AI-detection’ tools is that false positives are far more frequent

JOANNE SUN / AGGIE

than people tend to imagine,” Gegg-Harrison said via email. “I honestly think that professors should try putting some of their own writing into GPTZero, because they’ll almost certainly find some of it flagged as ‘likely AI-generated.’ Experiencing that with your own writing makes the issue of false positives that much more visceral.” Following the accusation, the UC Davis student said that their sister tested the accuracy of GPTZero. In doing so, she found several ‘false positives,’ or works that were not generated by AI but marked as containing AI-generated content. The student commented on their sister’s research. “Chat GPTZero detected that the second chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible was entirely written by an AI,” the student said. “Of the 247 documents [my sister] ran through GPTZero, 40% were falsely detected to have used AI.” Hunter Keaster, who serves as the case director at the Student Advocate Office for OSSJA, commented on cases involving ChatGPT and the typical process that students face when referred to judicial affairs. CHATGPTFAIL on 3

Davis Chamber of Commerce hosts Yolo County ‘Zero Bail’ case study finds increase annual State of the City address Mayor Will Arnold and City Manager Michael Webb joined the chamber to discuss housing, infrastructure and more

BY MADELEINE YOUNG AND ALEX UPTON

city@theaggie.org On March 1, Mayor Will Arnold and City Manager Michael Webb presented the annual State of the City address with the Davis Chamber of Commerce. The panel discussed pressing issues in Davis such as financial outlook, infrastructure investments, development updates, social services and the housing crisis. Executive Director Cory Kohler said that while the chamber is financially stable and healthy, membership has

BEST OF DAVIS

Scan to vote on your favorite Davis spots in this year’s Best of Davis.

Couch Concert: MONDAIJI

Problem child turned college student — and band. SEE PAGE 7

DONATE TO THE AGGIE

declined due to the pandemic. The chamber contributes substantially to Davis’s economic position, dating back to when it lobbied for UC Berkeley’s farm (now UC Davis) to be placed in Davis. Mayor Will Arnold began the address by discussing a key concern for Davis residents: housing insecurity. According to Arnold, the city approved an unprecedented number of new housing projects to address student and workforce housing needs, as well as implementing several larger projects. He specifically mentioned Paul’s Place, a vertical home village that opened recently. “Certainly there’s more to be done,” Arnold said. “We need to redouble our efforts on seeking supportable and sustainable housing, particularly for folks who are a part of our workforce, folks who qualify for low-income housing and for young families.” Arnold made a point to recognize the relationship between Davis public schools and the well-being of the city. He spoke about the schools’ steady decline in enrollment and why it is important to address the housing crisis in a way that ensures families with young children will be able to afford housing in Davis. “As goes our school districts, so goes our property values in Davis,” Arnold said. “I’m a firm believer in that. It’s easy to say there’s a big difference between the work that the school does and the work that the city does, but in this case, there’s a real symbiotic relationship here between the quality of community assets that we’re able to provide and the quality of schools we have.” During the address, multiple charts were presented detailing the city’s general funds and sources reported in this fiscal year as well as revenue trends. The lack of affordable housing, senior housing and student housing amounted to 29% of the key issues the city is focusing on. The data presented also revealed that other pressing issues were homelessness, crime, safety and development. “The city really is looking at the full spectrum of housing needs in our community, whether it’s student housing, housing for folks who work in town, housing for folks who are coming off of the streets,” Arnold said. “These are all critical needs and all things that you have a council that recognizes the importance of that need and is continuing to do the work even in the face of community opposition when it happens to add housing.” City Manager Michael Webb concluded the address by discussing the condition of the city and reviewing city research. He said that, overall, residents appear satisfied and

in crime and recidivism

A study of the 13-month-long policy reveals the outcomes of California Zero Bail in Yolo County

KELLIE LU / AGGIE

BY MADELEINE YOUNG city@theaggie.org

KELLIE LU / AGGIE optimistic. Affordable housing is the predominant issue in Davis, followed by homelessness and public safety. While the city budget is dependent on property tax for revenue, cannabis taxes are quickly becoming a strong revenue source. The city is investing in improving pavement conditions and expects to focus on repairing downtown and other busy streets in the coming year, according to Webb. Webb emphasized the importance of investing in these kinds of repairs before the damage gets too drastic. Specific focus was placed on roads and pavements, as currently, Davis pavements are rated between fair and poor. The address noted that without further action by 2029, 25.5% of streets and 26.1% of bike paths will be considered in “failed” condition. “It’s crucial that we make every effort to stay on top of our road conditions and not let them get to a point of failure because at that point, they are exponentially more expensive to repair,” Webb said. “I want to applaud the City Council for making substantial improvements in terms of our investment locally in general fund dollars, seeking grants, using some of our gas tax money and putting that directly towards roads to the tune of about 9 million dollars a year. That is a huge improvement over what investments were made prior to that.”

On Feb. 14, the expanded study of “California Zero Bail” was completed and reported that there was 163% more total crime and 200% more violent crime in Yolo County. Zero Bail refers to Proposition 25, or SB #10, which eliminates cash bail for certain suspects, meaning those suspects can be immediately released from custody without paying bail money or bonds. In Aug. 2022, District Attorney Jeff Resig published a study and analysis of re-offense rates of individuals released on “Zero Bail” that found that out of the 595 individuals studied and released on Zero Bail in Yolo County, 70.6% were re-arrested and 20% were arrested for a violent crime. The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office released the “Posted Bail vs. Zero Bail Analysis” on Feb. 6 which covered background on the study, methodology, recidivism and other information. “In April 2020, the California Judicial Council imposed a statewide Emergency Bail Schedule, commonly referred to as Zero Bail. This allowed individuals accused of certain types of crime to be released from custody without the payment of bail money or a bond,” the analysis reads. “Yolo county Superior Court kept an emergency Zero Bail Schedule until June 2021, when a new bail schedule was enacted.” Resig explained why the Zero Bail policy was introduced in California. “The Zero Bail policy was implemented by the courts in California in order to address the concern of overcrowding in the jails during COVID[-19],” Resig said. “The rationale was that in order to protect human life from the spread of COVID[-19], courts should minimize

the number of people being in locked and confined environments. The Zero Bail order was initially given by the California Supreme Court for several months and then counties individually decided to continue it after that. Yolo County had the policy in effect for 13 months.” The report on Zero Bail is one of many bail reform studies the Yolo County DA’s office has published over the years. These studies are intended to report on the public safety impacts of the policy. Resig explained in part why he believes the report shows an increase in re-offenses. “Those who were released on Zero Bail had little incentive to not re-offend,” Resig said. “As a result of the Zero Bail policy, individuals were immediately released from custody without any judicial risk assessment, supervision, ankle monitor, treatment, support, et cetera.” The study collected information from The California Department of Justice records, including all arrests, date of first arrest following release, total number of arrests and if the individual was arrested on misdemeanor and/or felony charges, amongst other details. The study found that out of the people who were arrested, the average number of days until they were rearrested within 18 months was 185 for those who posted bail and 129 for those who were released under emergency bail. “This study established that Zero Bail policies, without more [reform], resulted in significantly more crime and recidivism in Yolo County,” Resig said. “This study was not a complete assessment of all types of bail reform.”