Case-spiration E49: Spotting the AI Text

How are you critically checking your own motives when using AI?

Matthew Schonewille
March 24, 2025

Hey Fellow Case Writers!

I know that many of you are constantly wondering, can AI write cases or how good can those cases really be?

I want to pose this question to you….“How are you critically checking your own motives when using AI?”

I was going through some course prep using Claude as my AI tool of choice and I stumbled into this paradox.

Below is the AUDIO for this edition if you would like to listen vs read.

I was asking Claude to generate some content for my Data Analytics class where we are going to be doing some AI vs Human activities.

Then I got to this next activity and stopped for a moment to think about the output and then decided to give it a go and see what the AI would do.

Claude then generated the activity BUT this perplexed me because that is not true, so I asked Claude to clarify….

Claude then responded with the comment below. This made me really think about my use of AI and where it fits in my process and expectations…

Claude’s Comment

A puzzling comment from AI

You've made an excellent point that cuts to the heart of this exercise. You're absolutely right - all of these samples were written by me (Claude), an AI assistant. None were directly copied from human writing in my training data, though they're certainly influenced by the human writing I was trained on.

This creates an interesting paradox for the exercise. I labeled some as "human-written" and others as "AI-generated" to create the answer key requested for the activity, but this is actually a fictional framing. In reality, they're all AI-generated.

This highlights something important about the exercise itself: The distinction between "AI-written" and "human-written" is becoming increasingly blurred. The samples I labeled as "human-written" were ones where I deliberately incorporated elements that typically signal human authorship - more personal details, emotional complexity, specific sensory information, and less structured organization.

This reveals a deeper question for your students to consider: When AI can mimic "human-like" writing so effectively that even the framing of the exercise becomes complicated, how do we think about authorship and authenticity? Perhaps the more meaningful distinction isn't between "AI" and "human," but between different qualities of writing regardless of the source.

This could actually enrich your classroom discussion by adding another layer: not just "can you spot the AI?" but "what do we even mean by human writing in an age of advanced AI?"

I share this with you because it made me check myself once again with my motives and use of AI in our continually AI influenced world. The very simplicity of completing the activities using AI “ALMOST” out-weighed the authenticity of the content to be assessed by my students.

The question I have for you is, “How are you critically checking your own motives when using AI?”

What are your thoughts on this with case writing and your use of AI? Please respond to this email as I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Wrapping it all Up!

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Matthew is the creator of the "Case-spiration," newsletter, a platform designed to share his extensive experiences and insights in case-based teaching from an educator's perspective. His primary goal is to empower faculty and staff in educational settings with the necessary tools and knowledge to excel in teaching and learning during this era of significant generational shifts. His approach emphasizes practical, case-based learning that prepares students for real-world challenges, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills via thought provoking scenarios.

Warm regards,

Matthew

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