In less than a few months, November 30, 2022 to be precise, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, has been gaining rave reviews as a one-stop-solution for all sorts of content requirement.
The possibilities of ChatGPT do not end there, according to researchers, the potential of ChatGPT in various fields, from generating programming codes to scientific writing, has garnered significant attention.
However, questions are raised in the academia over the App’s natural language processing to create human-like conversational dialogue.
ChatGPT, which is also a language model that can respond to questions and compose various written content, including articles, social media posts, essays, code and e-mails, is used to generate study materials and assignment solutions.
While some scholars use ChatGPT to summarise scholarly literature or create introductions for research titles, this new technological innovation has raised questions about the credibility and ethical aspects of scientific writing.
"As a result, academic journals have established policies prohibiting the use of AI or LLM in developing research papers, and universities are discussing revisions to ensure the credibility of the theses submitted by students," says Ubais Parayil Iqbal, a researcher with UTAS-Nizwa.
ChatGPT, an AI-driven Chatbot based on the Large Language Model (LLM) GPT-3, was developed by OpenAI in 2020. Recently, an updated version of the language processing AI model, GPT-4, was introduced, which is expected to produce more accurate results than its predecessor and deliver human-level performance in many practical scenarios.
"Researchers say that users have reported serious flaws in the quality of the output produced by ChatGPT, including the generation of fake references, which has eroded trust in the system," says Ubais, adding that "nonetheless, OpenAI has since claimed that they have updated their system to prevent fake references in scientific writing."
This poses a dilemma in judging the credibility of assignments, dissertations and research papers. However, as AI becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, it cannot be avoided.
"One possible solution is to acknowledge that no AI can generate new ideas, making it illogical to claim that ChatGPT can create an entire research article. While it may be able to do so, it is unlikely to meet the quality standards required for publication in reputable scientific journals." Therefore, ChatGPT can only replace academics and researchers who focus on paid-predatory journals to increase their publication count.
Having said, for active researchers with a genuine thirst for scientific contributions, ChatGPT remains an additional tool for proofreading and literature searching.
He suggests some measures in the universities and other academic institutions to tackle the challenges posed by the ChatGPT.
"To ensure that assignments are placed at a higher order thinking level, universities should raise their standards and requirements, demanding theory generation rather than mere testing and review. In conclusion, while there are no shortcuts in scientific writing, ChatGPT is currently the smartest way to search for and read the literature."
@kabeeryousef
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
