As we all know, Winston AI has popped up as one of the popular go-to solutions for detecting AI-generated writings. But can it detect GPT-5? The short answer is YES. The longer answer is the devil lies in the details. Keep reading to know more about it.
Why Winston catches GPT-5?
The simple explanation is Winston has a built-in way to measure how “human” or “AI-like” a text might be, which is represented by a Score (0% means Winston thinks it is fully AI). For our sample, we took Score ≤ 50% as AI, and Score > 50% as human. Hence, if Winston flags something as 30%, they’re basically telling you they think it’s AI text with strong confidence. Winston uses its internal machine learning algorithms, almost like how Turnitin uses stylometric data to detect probable manipulation.
However, remember that Winston was not made to accomplish 100% detection in every scenario. It won’t be able to do it flawlessly with GPT-5, especially the base version. Winston does very well on some GPT-5 variants but not all.
Also Read: Can GPTZero Detect GPT5?
Which GPT-5 variant is easiest or hardest for Winston to detect?
In our tests, we got a dataset of 202 texts, all of which are GPT-5 generated. We used Winston AI’s version 4.0 via the API. We measured Winston’s recall (no human texts included). If Winston says “AI” for a known GPT-5 text, that’s a hit; if it calls it “human,” that’s a miss.
| Segment | n | Hit rate (≤50% = AI) | Miss rate (>50% = Human) | Mean score (%) | Median score (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALL GPT-5 variants | 202 | 93.1% | 6.9% | 12.70 | 1.21 |
| gpt-5-chat-latest | 52 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 6.11 | 1.74 |
| gpt-5-nano | 53 | 98.1% | 1.9% | 4.53 | 0.92 |
| gpt-5-mini | 52 | 96.2% | 3.8% | 8.10 | 0.95 |
| gpt-5 (base) | 45 | 75.6% | 24.4% | 35.24 | 25.18 |
As you can see from these numbers:
- The overall recall for GPT-5 is 93.1% which is quite good.
- Winston never missed any of the gpt-5-chat-latest texts (100% hit rate).
- Winston also did fantastically for gpt-5-nano (98.1% hit rate) and gpt-5-mini (96.2% hit rate).
- However, it did poorly for the base GPT-5 variant (only 75.6% hit rate). That means out of 45 base GPT-5 pieces, Winston marked roughly a quarter of them as human.
If you want to reliably bypass Winston AI then you need to use a dedicated humanizer like Deceptioner AI.
A couple more interesting diagnostics
- “Confident misses” (scores > 90% “human”): 9 total → 7 of those are base GPT-5, 1 mini, and 1 nano. Winston is ~90% sure it’s human when it’s actually AI, which is dangerous if you rely solely on Winston’s result.
- Threshold sensitivity: If you tighten your threshold from 50% down to 25% or even 10%, Winston’s recall goes down drastically. A recall of 75.7% at 10% threshold is not great. You’ll catch fewer GPT-5 texts if you only label something as AI when Winston’s score is 10% or below.
Hence, Winston is reliable if you remain flexible with your threshold. For critical use cases like academic honesty, consider combining Winston with other detectors or stylometric heuristics, or ask for draft copies or references.
Also Read: Can ZeroGPT detect GPT5?
Where are the misses clustering?
They primarily cluster in the base GPT-5 category. Winston sometimes gets very confident that base GPT-5 text is “human,” even more than 90% sure. That is definitely a worrisome point in high-stakes screening.
Is Winston enough on its own?
The short answer is NO. Winston is extremely strong for chat-latest, mini, and nano variants, but not bulletproof for base GPT-5. If your detection requires absolute certainty, you should:
- Combine Winston with a second AI detector to reduce false negatives.
- Ask for references or draft histories, because LLMs often can’t provide consistent tracebacks.
- Pay extra attention to anything Winston labels >75% “human,” as that’s where the big misses happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Does Winston always detect GPT-5?
No, Winston has around 93.1% recall overall but there are definite misses, especially with base GPT-5.
Q2. What does recall really mean?
Recall is the proportion of actual GPT-5 texts that Winston successfully flagged as AI. If you have 100 GPT-5 samples and Winston correctly calls 90 of them “AI,” the recall is 90%.
Q3. Should I trust Winston blindly for screening GPT-5 texts?
No, don’t rely on it solely. Consider Winston as a close-to-accurate tool that’s effective most of the time but can slip up with base GPT-5. For total reliability, combine Winston with other detectors or use stylometric checks.
Q4. Why is base GPT-5 so tricky?
We suspect the base model’s writing style is more varied or sometimes less typical of a “standard” LLM text. Winston can get confused by those variations.
The Bottom Line
If you’re wondering whether Winston AI can detect GPT-5, the simple answer is yes—it catches most GPT-5 texts with an overall recall of 93.1%. But it’s not invincible, especially with the base GPT-5 variant that escapes detection nearly a quarter of the time. Winston is great at giving you a strong indication that a text is AI, but if you need ironclad proof, use a combination of strategies and don’t depend on Winston alone.
