The great AI witch hunt (Hadan et al., 2024)

Welcome to Revise and Resubmit, the podcast where we explore the latest cutting-edge research from some of the world’s most prestigious journals. Today’s episode dives into a hot-button topic with The Great AI Witch Hunt: Reviewers’ Perception and (Mis)conception of Generative AI in Research Writing, published in Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, a new sister journal to the renowned Computers in Human Behavior journal, ranked on the elite ABDC A list. This groundbreaking work, brought to us by Hilda Hadan, Derrick M. Wang, Reza Hadi Mogavi, Joseph Tu, Leah Zhang-Kennedy, and Lennart E. Nacke, delves into the evolving role of generative AI in academic research writing—and the challenges it brings along. Hilda Hadan, a Ph.D. candidate in Systems Design Engineering, worked closely with her supervisors, Dr. Lennart E. Nacke and Dr. Leah Zhang-Kennedy, both leaders in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Waterloo. Alongside Hilda, Derrick Wang examines narratives in games like World of Warcraft, while Reza Hadi Mogavi, a postdoc in HCI, and Joseph Tu, a Master’s student in Systems Design Engineering, bring technical insights to the team. Professor Lennart Nacke, heading the HCI Games Group at the Games Institute, and Dr. Leah Zhang-Kennedy, an Assistant Professor in interaction design, bring a blend of academic rigor and cutting-edge user experience expertise to this project. The study reveals fascinating insights. Through an online survey with reviewers from top HCI conferences, it turns out that AI can enhance readability and language quality but often misses the “human touch”—that intangible nuance reviewers expect in academic writing. Interestingly, reviewers struggled to tell apart AI-augmented writing from human writing but still noted the absence of subjective reflection in AI-generated work. As these findings spark a new debate on AI’s place in academia, it leaves us wondering: As AI tools become more embedded in academic writing, will we redefine what it means to have an “author’s voice” in research? Our gratitude goes to Hilda, Derrick, Reza, Joseph, Leah, Lennart, and the Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans journal for bringing this thought-provoking study to light. To stay in the loop with more riveting research, subscribe to Revise and Resubmit on Spotify and our YouTube channel Weekend Researcher, also available on Amazon Prime and Apple Podcast. Reference Hadan, H., Wang, D. M., Reza Hadi Mogavi, Tu, J., Zhang-Kennedy, L., & Nacke, L. E. (2024). The Great AI Witch Hunt: Reviewers’ Perception and (Mis)Conception of Generative AI in ResearchWriting. Computers in Human Behavior Artificial Humans, 100095–100095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbah.2024.100095 Youtube channel link ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@weekendresearcher⁠