Henry
New member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2026
- Messages
- 6
Well, it finally happened. The thing I always worried about. 
I got an email from my professor this morning saying my last essay was flagged by Turnitin's AI detector as "60% likely to be AI-generated." She's asking for a meeting to discuss it.
Here's the thing: I didn't use AI. At all. Not even for brainstorming. I wrote that paper myself, late at night, with my own tired brain and my own clumsy fingers.

I'm not an amazing writer. I struggle with transitions. I overuse certain phrases. Maybe that makes me sound "robotic"? Or maybe the detector is just wrong??
I've been reading about false positives and apparently it happens, especially with non-native speakers or people with consistent writing patterns. I'm a transfer student and English is my second language (Spanish is my first). Could that be why??
I need help writing an appeal email. Here's what I'm thinking:
Draft:
Has anyone else been through this?? What worked for you?? I'm really stressed about this.
I got an email from my professor this morning saying my last essay was flagged by Turnitin's AI detector as "60% likely to be AI-generated." She's asking for a meeting to discuss it.
Here's the thing: I didn't use AI. At all. Not even for brainstorming. I wrote that paper myself, late at night, with my own tired brain and my own clumsy fingers.
I'm not an amazing writer. I struggle with transitions. I overuse certain phrases. Maybe that makes me sound "robotic"? Or maybe the detector is just wrong??
I've been reading about false positives and apparently it happens, especially with non-native speakers or people with consistent writing patterns. I'm a transfer student and English is my second language (Spanish is my first). Could that be why??
I need help writing an appeal email. Here's what I'm thinking:
Draft:
Is this okay?? Too defensive? Not defensive enough? Should I mention that AI detectors are known to be unreliable??Dear Professor [Name],
I received your email about the AI detection report for my recent essay. I want to assure you that the work I submitted was entirely my own. I did not use any AI tools to generate or paraphrase content.
I understand why the detector might have flagged it. English is my second language, and I tend to write in a very structured, maybe repetitive way because I'm still building fluency. I've attached some of my previous writing (in-class essays, discussion posts) so you can see my natural voice.
I'm happy to meet and talk through my writing process, show you my drafts and notes, or even write a short in-person response to demonstrate my work.
I take academic integrity seriously and I'm genuinely upset that my work was flagged. I hope we can resolve this.
Thank you for your time.
Has anyone else been through this?? What worked for you?? I'm really stressed about this.