Copyright dailydot
A student whose work the professor claimed was AI broke down in tears in a TikTok video posted on Oct. 24, 2025. In the video, @cyclebreakingclub said, “Bro, I spent hours working on this assignment. Hours. And the teacher’s trying to say that it’s AI. Like, I’m just sorry that I talk normal. Like, what do you want from me?” She added that she poured real effort into the coursework and still received a zero. Her clip quickly spread as many viewers related to the stress of trying to prove their writing came from their own keyboard. Students push back on AI detectors She added on-screen text saying, “AI is ruining my college experience, I guess I’ll be meeting with the dean.” Meanwhile, the video reached more than 6 million views and collected nearly 15,000 comments. Many viewers encouraged her to appeal immediately and document everything, including urging students to save drafts, screen recordings, and timestamps. One supportive viewer wrote, “Okay, so have a sit-down with the teacher and go over the paper. You will be able to prove you wrote it as you’ll be able to discuss it. But did the teacher read it? Will they have questions to prove they read it? I know it’s a lot but match their energy!!” Another commenter wrote, “Frustrates me to NO END that people are being punished for proper grammar and punctuation. I’ve been casually using em dashes and the Oxford comma since I was a child, because I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing. I’m genuinely afraid for our future.” Other students shared personal tests of AI software. One user said, “I ran an old paper through an AI detector, and it said it was 98% AI. I wrote the paper in 2020.” Therefore, many argued that the tools punished experienced writers who used complex structure or consistent tone. @cyclebreakingclub AI detectors and technology are failing hard working students more than they’re catching cheaters. #AI #college #student #FYP #relatable ♬ original sound – cyclebreakingclub Educators question AI-detecting tech, too The clip spread to Reddit, where higher-ed workers and students echoed concerns. u/Neat_Classroom_2209 said, “I work in higher education and we’ve been told since AI debuted that those detectors are hit or miss. You have to cover your bases before you even bring in the student.” Also, others described built-in learning-platform detectors occasionally flagging seasoned writers. User u/not_elsie explained, “As a 40 y/o who was a writer/editor for 12 years and who loves a good em dash, my percentages were always high. Luckily, my professors never gave me grief over it but I can see how some would.” Yet some commenters went further. Redditor u/punktd0t said, “It’s literally impossible to detect if something was written by AI or not. All these ‘detectors’ are making it up. They are using AI to guess.” In a video update, OP shared that she had a talk with her professor, who “reread” the paper and said he didn’t think it was AI and that he would grade it. She ended up with a 100% on the paper. Folks in the comments called out the professor, saying it’s unlikely he read it in the first place. @cyclebreakingclub said she would be using Google Docs and screen recording her work from now on in case this happens again. “I really hope my video helps other students, and it helps to prevent this from happening to somebody else, because it’s truly heartbreaking and discouraging. And it has made me second-guess everything,” she said. @cyclebreakingclub Thank you so much for all of the support you guys. I really truly appreciate every single comment of advice and support. 🩷 #ai #update #fyp #collegelife #student ♬ original sound – cyclebreakingclub @cyclebreakingclub did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment. The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
