Several seniors at Mt. Eden High School are speaking out after a rise in allegations of artificial intelligence (AI) use, which have led to confusion from both English teachers and students.
AP Literature teacher Kelsey Brakefield said she believes the tools are necessary as AI-generated writing becomes increasingly common.
“I use a couple AI detectors, Turnitin and others,” she said. “But I talk to kids on a case-by-case basis.”
Brakefield said she’s seen clear patterns, like overly polished language, robotic phrasing, and repetition of SAT-level vocabulary, that raise red flags. Common “AI-sounding” words she noted include delve, woven tapestry, and microcosm.
“Even if the AI detection isn’t 100% accurate, I ask them to rewrite it,” she said. “In college, flagged work can lead to an automatic zero. I’m trying to prepare them for that.”
Some students have argued that detection tools can be inconsistent and falsely flag original work. Senior Karunbir Dosanjh said he was flagged despite allegedly writing an essay himself.
“I feel disrespected,” he said. “When I ran my essay through other detectors, most said 0% AI.”
Dosanjh added that his teacher, Brakefield, stood by the results of Undetectable.AI, an AI detector, and asked him to rewrite most of his essay.
“It’s scary,” said Dosanjh. “Especially for seniors. English is a graduation requirement. So having your work flaggedputs that at risk.”
Senior Kevin Hoang said he shared a similar experience. Hoang said he began recording himself writing essays, but still had to rewrite. The student said he believes Undetectable.AI is unreliable; when he checked his essay on another AI detection tool, Quillbot, it allegedly reported 0% AI use.
Still, Hoang said he understood where his teacher was coming from.
“I do think she had good intentions,” he said. “She mainly wants us not to get detected in college.”
Another senior, Christina Kim Tran, said her essay was flagged by English Department Chair and AP Literature teacher Daniel Guerrero, who commented that it “wasn’t her work.” She said a conversation could have cleared up the misunderstanding, as she allegedly did not use AI.
Guerrero, who teaches both regular and AP English, said that while he does use tools like Turnitin, Undetectable.AI, and Draftback, which tracks how a document is typed over time, he doesn’t fully rely on them.
“Sometimes I see essays with super sophisticated analysis and vocabulary that just aren’t typical for high school students,” said Guerrero. “The writing sounds like it came from a published research paper or a PhD thesis. The tone is so polished and academic that it almost doesn’t feel human. It reads robotic.”
The rise of AI has changed what student writing looks like, and some teachers report struggling to keep up with new tools and websites. Guerrero said his priority was to maintain trust with students, considering it just as important as maintaining academic standards.
“I don’t want to see plagiarized writing or someone else’s voice,” he said. “I want to see your struggling writing. There’s value in struggling, in doing the hard work.”
Additionally, Guerrero said tracking AI use can be overwhelming and time-consuming, taking away time from supporting student learning.
The English department has started discussing how to handle suspected AI use, and Guerrero said he expects the conversation to grow.
“I think this summer and next year we’ll have bigger discussions about how to address this,” he said. “We also need support from the district in identifying these AI tools.”
Guerrero explained that when teachers suspect AI use, the school follows a process. After identification of potential AI use, evidence is submitted to administration. Then the student, teacher, counselor, and an administrator or student support staff discuss the situation together.
Both students and teachers agree that academic integrity is important. But as AI tools become more advanced, schools face a challenge: ensuring fairness while addressing the challenges of using technology.