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How Does SafeAssign Detect AI? A Guide for Students & Educators 

How Does SafeAssign Detect AI? A Guide for Students & Educators

AI writing tools have taken off in recent years, making it easier than ever for students to generate essays with just a few clicks. While this can save time, it also raises a big question: Can SafeAssign detect AI-generated writing?

If you’ve ever submitted an assignment through Blackboard, you know SafeAssign is used to check for plagiarism. But does it actually catch AI-generated content, or is it only looking for copied text?

In this article, we’ll break down how SafeAssign works, what it can and can’t detect, and why tools like Walter Writes AI help students produce high-quality, natural-sounding content that’s undetectable.

TL;DR:

  • SafeAssign detects plagiarism and not AI writing. What it checks for is copied content rather than machine-generated text.
  • AI-generated text often bypasses detection. Since AI produces original materials, SafeAssign may not catch that.
  • Some AI text gets flagged if it mirrors other academic sources. Repetitive phrasing or borrowed phrases can trigger detection.
  • Walter Writes AI creates undetectable, human-like writing. It avoids plagiarism flags with natural, varied sentence structures.

What is SafeAssign?

SafeAssign is a plagiarism checker used by schools and universities to ensure students are submitting original work. It’s built into Blackboard, one of the most common learning management systems (LMS) in education.

When you submit a paper, SafeAssign scans it against a massive database of academic papers, books, and online content to check for similarities. If it finds a match, it flags it.

How Does SafeAssign Check for Plagiarism?

SafeAssign works by:

  • Comparing your paper to its database which includes previously submitted student papers and academic sources.
  • Detecting exact matches or word-for-word copying.
  • Identifying paraphrased content where words are changed but the meaning stays the same.

In the end, it generates an Originality Report showing the percentage of your paper that matches existing sources.

But here’s the thing—SafeAssign wasn’t designed to detect AI-generated content. It mainly looks for plagiarism, which is different from AI writing.

Does SafeAssign Detect AI Writing?

AI-generated Text vs. Traditional Plagiarism

When we talk about plagiarism, we usually mean copying someone else’s work—whether it’s a direct copy-paste job or a paraphrased version of an existing source.

AI-generated content, however, is completely new. It’s not copied from anywhere—it’s just written by a machine instead of a person.

That means SafeAssign may struggle to detect AI-generated writing because there’s no pre-existing source for it to match against.

How SafeAssign Analyzes AI-generated Content

Even though SafeAssign wasn’t designed to detect AI writing, it can sometimes flag AI-generated text if:

  • It pulls phrases from academic sources that are already in its database.
  • The writing sounds unnatural or has repetitive sentence structures.
  • It mimics common patterns that are often found in AI-generated text.

Limitations of SafeAssign in AI Detection

At the end of the day, SafeAssign wasn’t built to catch AI-generated writing. Its main focus is plagiarism detection, not AI identification.

This means:

🚫 It can’t directly detect text written by ChatGPT or Walter Writes AI unless that text was copied from an existing source.


🚫 If an AI tool creates completely original text, SafeAssign won’t flag it—unless it somehow matches something already in its database.

That’s why students who use AI-generated content—especially if they refine and edit it—often pass SafeAssign without issues.

What Detection Methods Does SafeAssign Use?

Credit: SafeAssign by Blackboard

How SafeAssign Checks for Copied Content

SafeAssign follows a simple process when reviewing papers:

  1. Identifies exact or paraphrased matches.
  2. It scans your work and compares it to academic papers, online sources, and previous submissions.
  3. Generates a report showing similarities.

However, it doesn’t have an AI detection model—it only checks for plagiarism.

Can SafeAssign Detect AI-generated Text?

If AI-generated text copies from publicly available sources, SafeAssign might flag it. But if the AI content is fully original, it won’t match anything in the database, so it likely won’t be detected.

Why AI Detection is Tricky

Even though AI-generated text sometimes follows predictable patterns, modern AI tools like Walter Writes AI are getting better at sounding human. That makes them even harder to detect.

Can SafeAssign Accurately Identify AI-written essays?

Why Does Some AI-generated Content Get Flagged and Some Don’t

AI-written essays might get flagged if:

  • They contain phrases pulled from existing academic sources.
  • They repeat common AI-generated phrases that SafeAssign recognizes.
  • They lack citations where they should have them.

However, if an AI-generated essay is well-written, properly edited, and refined, SafeAssign usually won’t catch it.

The Problem of False Positives & False Negatives

Because SafeAssign wasn’t built for AI detection, it sometimes:

🚩 Flags human-written text as AI-generated if it contains repetitive phrasing.
🚩 Misses AI-generated essays entirely if they sound natural and don’t match existing sources.

That’s why SafeAssign is far from perfect when it comes to detecting AI writing.

Walter Writes AI – A Smarter Writing Solution

How Walter Writes AI Ensures Human-like Content

Unlike generic AI tools, Walter Writes AI is built to create natural, undetectable content.

  • It mimics human writing styles so it doesn’t get flagged.
  • Uses varied sentence structures to avoid repetitive phrasing.
  • Creates well-organized, readable content that sounds natural.

Why Students & Professionals Choose Walter Writes AI

Walter Writes AI helps users:

  • Write high-quality essays without plagiarism concerns.
  • Improve sentence flow, clarity, and readability.
  • Produce content that’s natural and engaging.

The Right Way to Use AI for Writing

AI should be a tool to help with brainstorming, organizing thoughts, and improving writing—not a way to completely replace human effort.

Walter Writes AI is designed to support your writing, making it stronger and more polished, while ensuring originality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Does SafeAssign detect AI-generated essays?

Not really. SafeAssign is mainly looking for plagiarism, not AI-written content.

2. Can SafeAssign check for ChatGPT content?

Only if the AI-generated text includes phrases copied from existing sources. Otherwise, it won’t be detected.

3. Does SafeAssign use AI for plagiarism detection?

Nope. It relies on database comparisons, not AI-driven detection.

4. Can Walter Writes AI help me with original writing?

Yes! Walter Writes AI produces high-quality, human-like content that won’t get flagged.

5. Is using AI for academic writing considered cheating?

It depends on how you use it. If you use AI for brainstorming, editing, and structuring your ideas, it’s fine. But submitting a fully AI-generated paper without changes could violate academic integrity policies.

The Future of AI Detection in SafeAssign

Right now, SafeAssign is not fully capable of detecting AI-generated content.

As AI tools continue to evolve, detection methods might improve—but for now, SafeAssign mainly focuses on plagiarism, not AI writing.

Want to write high-quality, undetectable essays? Try Walter Writes AI today!

Safe, ethical, and built to sound human—Walter Writes AI is the smartest way to ensure originality while using AI assistance.

👉 Check out Walter Writes AI now!