On the afternoon of Friday, 27th September, researchers gathered in Room B1.08 at the School of Computer Science for an engaging workshop titled “Responsible Use of Generative AI for Daily Research Activities”. The event was held in conjunction with the school’s monthly PhD lunch event and brought together faculty and students to discuss the evolving role of AI in research.
(Courtesy of Rosemary Deevy)
The workshop began with a presentation by Assistant Professor Shen Wang, the school’s Research Integrity Champion, who outlined its key objectives. These included promoting the “Living Guidelines on the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Research” (https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/2b6cf7e5-36ac-41cb-aab5-0d32050143dc_en?filename=ec_rtd_ai-guidelines.pdf) and gathering concrete feedback and examples from computer scientists. The insights collected are intended to help researchers across UCD enhance their productivity while upholding the highest standards of research integrity.
Key Findings from the Pre-Workshop Survey
A summary of survey results from 31 computer science researchers—primarily PhD students and faculty—offered intriguing insights into current GenAI usage. For example:
- ChatGPT (both free and paid versions) emerged as the most widely used tool, favored by over 55% of participants, surpassing tools like GitHub Copilot, which was expected to dominate coding-related tasks.
- While more than half of the respondents agreed that GenAI positively impacts their research, over 30% expressed doubts or hesitations due to concerns about research integrity.
- Popular uses of GenAI include text summarization, rewriting, code generation, and advanced information retrieval, whereas image generation saw minimal adoption.
- A striking 80% of respondents had not undergone formal training on using GenAI tools.
Discussions and Insights
Following the survey overview, Dr. Adrian Bryne (CeADAR) and Dr. Shen Wang facilitated group discussions centered on the guidelines for the responsible use of GenAI. Researchers found some recommendations, such as “Remain ultimately responsible for scientific output” and “Continuously learn how to use generative AI tools properly to maximise their benefits, including by undertaking training.” to be relatively straightforward to adopt.
The discussions also clarified more nuanced guidelines, such as: “Pay particular attention to issues related to privacy, confidentiality and intellectual property rights when sharing sensitive or protected information with AI tools.” and “When using generative AI, respect applicable national, EU and international legislation, as in their regular research activities.”.
Open-ended questions sparked lively debate, including:
- “If generative AI no longer produced hallucinations, could it qualify as a paper co-author?”
- “What level of transparency is required when using GenAI in research?”
- “Where is the boundary between using GenAI for academic judgment and technical background learning?”
Future Workshops
This workshop marked the first event under the ReCLAIM Round 1 project (https://www.ucd.ie/cs/news/ucdcomputerscienceresearchersreceivereclaimawardforgenaiproject/). The next session, led by Dr. Adrian Bryne, will take place in November at the CeADAR Centre and will focus on the responsible use of GenAI in industry-oriented research settings.