Who checks what when you submit to Canvas?
We put this together from Instructure’s and Turnitin’s guides. Each row is a part of the chain, and the last column says where the claim comes from.
| Part | What it does with your work | AI check? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas assignment | Sends file-upload and text-entry submissions to a connected tool, then shows the tool’s report in SpeedGrader | Not described as a Canvas feature | Instructure |
| Turnitin Similarity Report | Matches your text against sources and shows a Similarity Score | No. AI highlights “are not visible in the Similarity Report” | Turnitin |
| Turnitin AI Writing Report | Gives the share of qualifying prose its model flags as likely AI-generated | Yes, with a Turnitin Originality license | Turnitin |
| Packback | Listed by Instructure as the other supported document processing tool | Not described in the Instructure guide | Instructure |
| Canvas quizzes | Record a quiz log of question views, answers, and leaving and returning to the quiz | No AI check described | Instructure |
How does Turnitin get your paper from Canvas?
Your instructor turns it on per assignment. Instructure’s Document Processor guide says an instructor “can add an LTI 1.3 document processing tool to file upload or text entry assignments. Once enabled, student submissions are sent to the selected tool for analysis.” It names the tools: “Currently, Turnitin and Packback are the only supported document processing tools.”
Some schools use another route, which Turnitin calls the Canvas Plagiarism Framework. There the assignment’s Submission Type “needs to be set to Online Submission and either Text Entry or File Uploads (or both),” and the option shows up “in the Plagiarism Review box.” Turnitin can also run as an external tool in Canvas. When you submit to a Plagiarism Framework assignment, Turnitin says you check a box to agree to its End-User License Agreement, which is one sign the assignment is connected.
Both routes are about assignments with text entry or file uploads. The guides we read do not describe these tools checking quiz answers.
What does Turnitin’s AI Writing Report check?
Turnitin describes it as a tool “designed to help educators identify text that might be prepared by a generative AI tool.” It reports an overall percentage of “qualifying text (prose sentences contained in a long-form writing format)” that its model flags. Turnitin says the percentage “is different from and independent of the similarity score.”
A report only appears when the file meets Turnitin’s requirements:
- Your school has “an active Turnitin Originality license.”
- The file has “at least 300 words of prose text in a long-form writing format” and no more than 30,000 words.
- It is under 100 MB and is a .docx, .pdf, .txt or .rtf file.
- It is written in a supported language: English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, German, Dutch or Turkish.
Turnitin adds that the model “does not reliably detect AI-generated text in the form of non-prose, such as poetry, scripts, or code.”
What does the AI percentage mean?
Turnitin lists several states. A score of 0% means the model found no qualifying text it flags. Scores from 1 to 19% are not shown: “no score or highlights are attributed for AI detection scores above 0% and below the 20% threshold,” and the report shows an asterisk (*%) instead, because Turnitin found “a higher incidence of false positives” in that range. From 20% up, the number is the share of qualifying text flagged. There are also states for still loading, a processing error, a file that didn’t meet the requirements, and AI detection that wasn’t turned on when you submitted.
Turnitin is direct about limits: the model “may not always be accurate (it may misidentify human-written, AI-generated, and AI-paraphrased text), so it should not be used as the sole basis for adverse actions against a student.” It says deciding whether misconduct happened “takes further scrutiny and human judgment.”
Can you see your own AI score in Canvas?
Only if your instructor lets you. Instructure says Document Processor reports are available to students “on the assignment or grades page” and, in the steps, “When you allow access, students can view their report on the Grades page.” In the Plagiarism Framework, Turnitin says you open your Similarity Score from the assignment’s Submission Details or from Grades, and “If you can’t open the Similarity Report, your instructor may have prevented students from viewing it.”
For the AI report specifically, Turnitin’s pages differ. Its instructor guide says “If you make the AI Writing Report available to students, they can open it from their Similarity Report.” Its help-center troubleshooting page says “AI writing detection reports are not visible to students” and that instructors can download one and share it. Which one you get depends on your school’s Turnitin setup and your instructor’s settings.
Do Canvas quizzes check for AI?
The quiz guides we read describe no AI check. What a Classic Quiz keeps is a quiz log: when you viewed and answered each question, and “Stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page” when you left the quiz. New Quizzes keep a similar log. Instructure says quiz logs “should not be used to validate academic integrity or identify occurrences of cheating.” Our guide to whether Canvas tracks tabs goes through each log.
Is using AI allowed in your Canvas course?
That is your instructor’s and your school’s call, not Canvas’s. Check the syllabus and the assignment instructions. Our AI policies by platform page collects what the platforms themselves say.
Where Silent Student fits
We make Silent Student, a desktop app for Mac and Windows from El Dorado Ignition LLC that signs in to your Canvas as you and works assignments in due-date order. It submits through Canvas’s own pages, so an assignment with Turnitin turned on is checked like any other submission. It does not hide work from Turnitin or any other tool, and your school’s academic-integrity policy still applies.
More: Silent Student on Canvas.
Questions people ask
Does Canvas have a built-in AI detector?
Instructure’s guides describe the check happening in a connected tool. Canvas sends text-entry and file-upload submissions to a document processing tool such as Turnitin, and that tool produces the report.
What does Canvas use to check for AI?
A connected tool, not Canvas itself. Instructure lists Turnitin and Packback as the supported document processing tools, and Turnitin’s AI Writing Report needs a Turnitin Originality license.
Does Turnitin in Canvas check every assignment for AI?
No. Your instructor turns it on per assignment, it works on text-entry and file-upload submissions, and the file needs 300 to 30,000 words of prose in a supported language.
Can I see my Turnitin AI score in Canvas?
Only if your instructor allows it. Turnitin’s instructor guide says shared AI reports open from your Similarity Report; its help center says the reports are not visible to students and can be downloaded and shared.
What does an asterisk AI score mean in Turnitin?
The model flagged between 1% and 19% of the text. Turnitin hides those scores and shows *% because false positives are more common in that range.
Do Canvas quizzes detect AI?
Instructure’s quiz guides describe no AI check. Quizzes keep a log of question views, answers, and leaving and returning to the quiz.
Sources
All fetched and checked November 2, 2026.
- How do I create an assignment using the document processor as an instructor? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view a quiz log for a student? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- Using the AI Writing Report (Turnitin guides)
- Why can’t I see the AI writing detection report? (Turnitin help center)
- Canvas Plagiarism Framework FAQ for Feedback Studio instructors (Turnitin guides)
- Viewing your Similarity Report with Canvas Plagiarism Framework (Turnitin guides, student)
- Submitting to an assignment in Canvas Plagiarism Framework (Turnitin guides, student)
How this guide was made. Drafted with AI from the official Instructure and Turnitin help docs listed above and checked by Silent Student on November 2, 2026. We quote each source directly. The table is our summary of those pages; where a page says nothing about AI, the table says so rather than guessing.
Related guides: Does SafeAssign detect AI? · Does Canvas track tabs? · What can teachers see on Canvas? · What happens when you resubmit on Canvas? · AI policies by platform · All guides · Canvas
Written by the company that makes Silent Student. Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instructure. Canvas and Instructure are trademarks of Instructure, Inc. Turnitin is a trademark of Turnitin, LLC.