• Creesch@beehaw.org
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    9 months ago

    I feel like two different problems are conflated into one though.

    1. The academic review process is broken.
    2. AI generated bullshit is going to cause all sorts of issues.

    Point two can contribute to point 1 but for that a bunch of stuff needs to happen. Correct my if I am wrong but as far as my understanding of peer-review processes are supposed to go it is something along the lines of:

    1. A researcher submits their manuscript to a journal.
    2. An editor of that journal validates the paper fits within the scope and aims of the journal. It might get rejected here or it gets send out for review.
    3. When it does get send out for review to several experts in the field, the actual peer reviewers. These are supposed to be knowledgeable about the specific topic the paper is about. These then read the paper closely and evaluate things like methodology, results, (lack of) data, and conclusions.
    4. Feedback goes to the editor, who then makes a call about the paper. It either gets accepted, revisions are required or it gets rejected.

    If at point 3 people don’t do the things I highlighted in bold then to me it seems like it is a bit silly to make this about AI. If at point 4 the editor ignores most feedback for the peer reviewers, then it again has very little to do with AI and everything the a base process being broken.

    To summarize, yes AI is going to fuck up a lot of information, it already has. But by just shouting, “AI is at it again with its antics!” at every turn instead of looking further and at other core issues we will only make things worse.

    Edit:

    To be clear, I am not even saying that peer reviewers or editors should “just do their job already”. But fake papers have been increasingly an issue for well over a decade as far as I am aware. The way the current peer review process works simply doesn’t seem to scale to where we are today. And yes, AI is not going to help with that, but it is still building upon something that already was broken before AI was used to abuse it.

      • Creesch@beehaw.org
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        9 months ago

        I feel like this is the third time people are selective reading into what I have said.

        I specifically acknowledge that AI is already causing all sorts of issues. I am also saying that there is also another issue at play. One that might be exacerbated by the use of AI but at its root isn’t caused by AI.

        In fact, in this very thread people have pointed out that *in this case" the journal in question is simply the issue. https://beehaw.org/comment/2416937

        In fact. The only people likely noticed is, ironically, the fact that AI was being used.

        And again I fully agree, AI is causing massive issues already and disturbing a lot of things in destructive ways. But, that doesn’t mean all bullshit out there is caused by AI. Even if AI is tangible involved.

        If that still, in your view, somehow makes me sound like an defensive AI evangelist then I don’t know what to tell you…

        • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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          9 months ago

          If you feel several people are selectively reading what you’re writing then you should consider what about your writing is perhaps contributing to the misinterpretation/selective reading. It’s not like we are working in concert.

          but that doesn’t mean all bullshit out there is caused by AI

          Again, you are mischaracterizing what I and others have said. No one asserted that. Quote where I said anything remotely like that.

          The only irony I’m seeing is your seemingly engaging in the behavior you’re decrying.

          • Creesch@beehaw.org
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            9 months ago

            The fact that you specifically respond to this one highly specific thing. While I clearly have written more is exactly what I mean.

            shrugs

            • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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              9 months ago

              Would you like me to quote every single one of your lines, line by line, and respond to them? Is that the kind of conversation you want to have? Or can you use common sense and infer that I am reading everything and responding to the things I think are worth responding to, which is pretty standard behavior in human conversations?

              I am taking issue with elements of your comments. You are wholesale claiming I - and others - said things I/they did not, and then ignoring when I ask you to stop doing it or show me where I said whatever you accused me of.

              When did anyone say

              But by just shouting, “AI is at it again with its antics!” at every turn instead of looking further and at other core issues we will only make things worse”

              Or

              that doesn’t mean all bullshit out there is caused by AI

              Who said those lines? Where are they? I’m not hiding behind “I didn’t personally say it.” I understand basic Internet thread etiquette. If you are reaffirming somebody else’s comment, you are generally standing behind most if not all of what they said. But nobody here is saying or doing the things you are claiming. You are tilting at windmills.

              You can infer that either I consider the thing I did not specifically mention not worth mentioning, or I agree enough to not warrant debating it. This is like basic social etiquette dude. I am pointing out the specific elements I find objectionable and want to discuss. How meta do I need to get here?