Artificial intelligence (AI) instead of brains: ChatGPT is increasingly being used secretly in science and education. The Center for European Politics (cep) has analyzed this development between unintentional plagiarism and disrupted learning and peer review processes and is calling for a paradigm shift. In the future, a skills- and process-based approach and a more reflective use of AI will be important.
“Empirical data on writing style show that large language models are changing our information practices more than the Covid pandemic,” emphasizes Anselm Küsters, cep digitization expert and author of the study. AI-generated content is already influencing many scientific processes, for example by making the usual peer review more difficult or systematically manipulating scientific journals. In addition, there is a growing digital divide within scientific disciplines, which is based on a lack of knowledge about AI and hinders scientific progress. In addition, there are structural concerns about the role of AI providers in education, such as asymmetric access to cutting-edge AI services and significant development and implementation problems with non-English-language models.
“Providing every student with a ChatGPT account is not enough to improve learning,” argues Küsters. Initial experiments have shown that careful adaptation of AI tools for effective integration into education is essential to achieve a lasting impact. To enable responsible use of the new technology, AI courses should be mandatory at all levels of education and cover ethics, practical applications and general problem-solving skills in addition to the technical basics. Targeted promotion of language models based on underrepresented languages is also needed, as are specific internal policies to monitor the ethical use of AI in education and ensure transparency. “On this basis, generative AI can promote creativity and make knowledge more accessible, in addition to the data analysis and writing support that are already commonplace. This is essential for Europe’s future competitiveness,” Küsters concludes.
