'Cobra Effect:' AI Detection Tools Push Students Toward Duller Writing and Defensive Use of Chatbots

AI detection tools meant to catch student cheating are backfiring by training students to write in ways that fool algorithms rather than communicate effectively with humans. This creates perverse incentives where students produce deliberately bland, robotic prose to avoid false positives, while also encouraging defensive use of AI tools. The 'cobra effect' refers to solutions that make the original problem worse - in this case, anti-AI measures that degrade human writing quality and normalize AI dependence.