I don’t read Retraction Watch enough, but I found some time this weekend and they came up with this bit of AUGH!
This week, we received a press release that caught our attention: A company is releasing software it claims will write manuscripts using researchers’ data.
The program, dubbed “Manuscript Writer,” uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate papers, according to the company that created it, sciNote LLC. A spokesperson explained the software generates a first draft the scientist should revise, and won’t write the Discussion, “the most creative and original part of the scientific article.” But can it provide any coherent text?
Oh, no doubt coherent. But the point of anything you write is to find a way to communicate the essence of your subject to the reader. While I understand that in the field of archaeology it’s often a problem getting researchers to put their shovels away and actually write their field reports and findings, I think most researchers are motivated simply because that’s the only way to advance from junior to senior, from senior to world class and people actually respect you. And that should require you to sit down and write that damn prose.
Not have some machine do it for you – and maybe foul it up.
I found this opinion to be of particular interest.
David Moher of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute said the program also raises a different concern:
The product appears to be geared to maintain the publication mill – publish or perish. Many universities and research institutes are trying to move away from this model. Today, there are many avenues to make research accessible, such as Open Science Framework and a host of preprint servers. Most importantly, research needs context and I’m not sure this tool can or should be providing the necessary human involvement in generating research reports.
Getting away from publish or perish – it certainly sounds good. I wonder what unintended consequences will come of it.
