I attended a conference recently and AI use by academics was absurd
As we listened to talks most people were stuck doing pointless tasks on their phones and computers. Less than 10%, likely 5%, were listening attentively. This was quite sad for me. The thing I would like to share the most, that shocked me more than any AI use I've seen ever—when I was on stage receiving QA post talk among the fellow panelists, everyone but me used AI on their laptops to record…
Recently, I attended an academic conference where it became evident that the use of AI by my fellow attendees was nothing short of absurd. Throughout the presentations, many participants were engrossed in mindless tasks on their devices, with only a meager 5% actively listening. This observation left me deeply disappointed.
One particular incident on stage caught my attention more than any AI application I had previously encountered. As I received the question-and-answer segment following my talk, it struck me that everyone around me, except for myself, was utilizing AI on their laptops to transcribe their questions and generate responses. This revelation left me utterly flabbergasted.
Reflecting on my own preparation for the talk, I had invested considerable time and effort into crafting my presentation and slides. It left me utterly incredulous to witness the other panelists relying on AI to formulate their questions. To me, this level of laziness and disrespect towards the professor's intellect demonstrated a troubling disregard for intellectual engagement.
While I acknowledge the allure of AI to streamline mundane tasks such as translation, resume writing, and job applications, as well as enhancing the editing process for research papers, I firmly believe that these conveniences benefit me as someone striving to be an intellectual. The thought of my fellow attendees relying on AI to bypass critical thinking, in a setting where we should be the most knowledgeable in the room, was a poignant and jarring experience.
The use of AI in both classroom settings and research endeavors is a topic that I continue to contemplate. This reflection and subsequent rant felt pertinent enough to share here. I am eager to hear if any of my fellow Lobsters have observed similar instances of AI misuse or how they personally feel about these developments in the academic world.
Written by urgent.news from Lobsters's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
