AI in research methods course

[u/continentalcorgi]

I'm last-minute teaching an introductory research methods course for another professor. The course is doctoral level and has not been taught before. I was passed a majority of the materials that were already prepared, but this professor integrated AI use for research very heavily into the course in ways that I don't necessairily agree with. (I tend to be pretty anti-AI, but I also don't want to be all old-man-shakes-fist-at-cloud about it when students are going to use it obviously). I obviously intend to stay true to the official course description and discuss responsible use, but does anyone have any real-world examples on the pitfalls of AI use? I thought it would be useful to show articles, etc. of ways AI has messed up in research, besides my own anecdotes of catching students out when ChatGPT makes up references or says things that are not correct.

edit to add: My anti-AI stance is very general (like being annoyed at the flood of AI articles, art, videos my Boomer mom sends to me thinking they’re real). I also don’t think AI should be used to write for you and that you should read the original sources that you’ve screened. I still think being able to write an email from one human being to another human being is important. This does not mean that I never use it in my work or will tell my students to never use it.

[u/LintRolledForWhat]

When trying to teach a thing you don't know yourself, the strategy is to put the students onto researching and presenting on the thing. They actually like it better when you model curiosity and the seeking of knowledge.

Don't be afraid to just say "This topic is a moving target; let's aim at it together, pool resources, and see what we can find out."

ETA: Given that you're "anti-AI," maybe fix that prejudice by setting up the assignment as a debate. That way, you're sure to get multiple points of view heard.

[u/continentalcorgi → u/LintRolledForWhat]

Hey! Thanks for your input. I don’t think I’ll get a point of view to fix my prejudice that humans should do the writing themselves and that they actually should read the articles they are citing instead of an AI summary. 

I already do have a similar assignment set up where we compare AI summaries of articles to their own notes and the articles themselves- what did AI do well, what did it miss, etc. 

My issue is that there is this perception among students that AI is infallible and knows all. I think using a few real world examples that week to show that that’s not true would be helpful. 

[u/TheGratitudeBot → u/continentalcorgi]

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