The Last Days of Pompeii: Embracing the Potential of AI in Education and Academic Research

Recently, I engaged in a thought-provoking discussion about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the academic world with my postgraduate students. As an educator, I recognized the immense potential of AI to transform the way we teach and learn. There is no doubt that we are living history in the making and that these new technological advancements are game-changers in academia. However, I also acknowledged the concerns and fears that many of my colleagues around the world share about the ease of academic dishonesty and plagiarism through AI.

As an analogy, I likened the current situation to the last days of Pompeii; a technological "Vesuvius" has just erupted, erasing the old world and ushering in a new one. But instead of trying to prohibit or avoid the use of AI, I encouraged students to enthusiastically embrace it - and at least to some of them, this approach was pretty much unexpected, coming from an educator.

As the field of artificial intelligence continues to advance, there has been increasing debate and concern about the use of AI models, particularly in the realm of academic research. Some universities have called for the prohibition of AI models such as Open GPT, citing concerns about biases and inaccuracies in the data, as well as the potential for these models to displace human researchers and provide unethical shortcuts to students. However, it is important to consider the many benefits that AI models can offer in education and academic research. For example, AI models can help analyze vast amounts of data and generate insights that might otherwise be missed or overlooked by human researchers. They can also help identify patterns and connections between data points that might not be immediately apparent. In the same time, they can certainly accelerate the students’ ability to gather information and conduct an analysis, making it much easier to prepare an academic paper.

Like any tool, AI models must be used with care and attention to detail to ensure that the results are accurate and reliable. This means that researchers or students must take the time to carefully evaluate the data they are using, as well as the algorithms and models they are employing to analyze that data. Lately, there are many articles and social media posts documenting quite disturbing errors in texts prepared by AI tools, giving more evidence to those that remain skeptical. However, this does not mean that we should avoid using AI models altogether. Instead, we should embrace the potential that these tools offer, while also remaining vigilant and critical in our approach to their use. Ultimately, the use of AI models represents a remarkable opportunity, and we should not allow fears or concerns to prevent us from exploring the full range of possibilities that these tools offer.

As my final advice to my students, I urged them to become acquainted with the potential of AI and to be inspired by the possibilities it offers. However, I also stressed the importance of remaining critical, as all scientists should, and of double-checking the final conclusions of any analysis conducted by AI to ensure that the outcome aligns with their own opinions and views. While the use of AI can enable us to move faster, we must be careful not to lose sight of our values and ethics in this fast-paced race. This challenge presents an opportunity for education to teach students how to engage with these powerful tools while maintaining a critical and ethical perspective. It's a challenge that we must all strive to meet.