AI Use in Academic Research

image source: Ørnelund, L. (1963). Oslo Lysverker operations center in Noreveien No. 26 in Oslo 1963 [Photograph]. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/From_Oslo_Lysverker_operations_center.jpg

• Artificial intelligence started in the 1950s when data scientists started programming computers to solve problems and understand spoken language. AI’s capabilities grew as computer speeds increased and today, we use AI for data analysis, finding patterns, and providing insights on the data it collects. 
• This new generation of AI goes further than just data analysis. Instead, generative AI creates new content. It does this by analyzing large amounts of data and then generating new content based on the patterns it sees in the original data. 
• It’s like the predictive text feature on your phone; as you start typing a new message, predictive text makes suggestions of what should come next based on data from past conversations.
• If you ask ChatGPT to find and cite sources for you, it will do so, but they could be inaccurate or even made up. This is because AI doesn’t know how to look for relevant research that can be applied to your thesis. Instead, it generates content based on past content, so if several papers cite certain sources, it will generate new content that sounds like it’s a credible source — except it may not be.

Source: Kent, J. A. (2023, September 6). Should I Use ChatGPT to Write My Essays? Harvard Summer School. https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/should-i-use-chatgpt-to-write-my-essays/

• LLMs are designed to understand, summarize, and generate text-based content.
• You use natural language (ask a question and it replies) and it remembers previous requests in the same session, so it becomes a conversation, not just a sequence of queries.
• Using complex neural network models, LLMs generate writing that mimics human intelligence and varied writing styles. They do not search for facts. Instead, they search for one word at a time, seeking the next best word each time to answer your prompt following the design of the LLM.  
• GenAIs can have difficulty understanding nuances and humor and can produce responses that miss the intended meaning of your prompt.
• Current LLMs often produce generic and formulaic text, hindering your ability to develop your own unique voice and argument.