Artificial intelligence is changing the research environment, with the ability to analyze vast datasets in a very short time, promising to accelerate discovery in ways previously unimaginable.
As we move forward with these advances, we are losing the personal touch of science.
The Impact of AI on Higher Education
The Chinese University of Hong Kong recently hosted the Association of Pacific Rim Universities Annual Presidents’ Meeting, which brought together delegates from 45 institutions across 19 economies to discuss the growing impact of artificial intelligence on higher education.
Among the many issues discussed was how AI is transforming the way they teach, learn, and conduct research, prompting a more fundamental reflection on how the nature of discovery itself may be changing.
With AI, researchers input data into a computer, which produces multiple hypotheses, and after selecting a few to test, one may eventually prove correct.
The Human Experience of Scientific Inquiry
This process raises concerns about the ownership of discovery and whether the scientist can truly claim it when the machine generates the ideas.
More importantly, it’s essential to consider whether this process weakens the human experience of scientific inquiry – the anticipation, surprise, and story behind the breakthrough.
A researcher’s personal experience can illustrate the importance of the human side of science.
Related: Sustainability Ratings Remain Top Ranked for Now
Preserving the Human-Centric Scientific Spirit
The discovery process, shaped by promising leads, frustrating missteps, soul-searching, and that ‘aha’ moment, is what makes science exciting, fun, and beautiful.
AI can remove much of the routine and laborious side of research, but if they allow it to dominate the process of idea generation, they may risk losing something fundamental: the discovery process that has long inspired generations of scientists.
Students love to hear inspirational stories of scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, who conceived the laws of gravity after an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the head.
These stories give us examples of how scientists, through their interactions with the real world and perhaps with serendipity, would be inspired to make discoveries.
Universities must ensure that students learn to use AI as a tool, rather than themselves being research assistants to an AI principal investigator, and prepare them to be forward-thinking and future-ready.
By expanding research-led and inquiry-based learning, students will learn how to think, question, and discover for themselves, developing skills like scientific literacy, ethical judgement, creativity, and adaptability.
Preserving this human-centric scientific spirit may be one of the most important responsibilities of universities in the age of AI, as they continue to transform the science environment.
