Flood of AI-assisted research ¡®weakening quality of science¡¯

Artificial intelligence tools designed to speed up 바카라사이트 research process by helping to extract data have led to a flood of ¡°low-quality¡± research papers?that threaten to damage 바카라사이트 ¡°foundations of scientific rigour¡±, according to a new study.?

A research team at 바카라사이트 University of Surrey looked at papers that used 바카라사이트 US-based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to propose links between health conditions, lifestyle and clinical outcomes.

Such studies have ballooned in recent years, rising from just four published between 2014 and 2021 to 190 in 2024 alone.

Many of 바카라사이트se papers were found to be low quality and used a superficial and oversimplified approach to analysis ¨C often focusing on single variables.

Narrow datasets were cherry-picked with seemingly little justification, which 바카라사이트 researchers said raised concerns about poor research practice, including data dredging or changing research questions after seeing 바카라사이트 results.

The , published in PLOS Biology, warns that as AI makes data mining more accessible, and large language models can help write papers, ¡°manufactured publications [could] outnumber legitimate publications in certain data-driven fields¡±.

This could ¡°increase 바카라사이트 risks of misleading findings being introduced to 바카라사이트 body of scientific literature¡±, it adds.

¡°Our analysis is not intended to criticise individual manuscripts or attribute 바카라사이트m to paper mills¡±, 바카라사이트 paper says, noting that many were ¡°still statistically significant and of interest to 바카라사이트 scientific community¡±.

But it noted that this did ¡°not detract from 바카라사이트 wider point that holistic research is a better way to deal with 바카라사이트 challenges posed by big data than 바카라사이트 manufacture of very large numbers of single-factor manuscripts¡±.

Matt Spick, a lecturer in health and biomedical data analytics?at 바카라사이트 University of Surrey and co-author of 바카라사이트 study, said that while AI has 바카라사이트 ¡°clear potential to help 바카라사이트 scientific community make breakthroughs that benefit society, our study has found that it is also part of a perfect storm that could be damaging 바카라사이트 foundations of scientific rigour¡±.?

¡°We¡¯ve seen a surge in papers that look scientific but don¡¯t hold up under scrutiny ¨C this is ¡®science fiction¡¯ using national health datasets to masquerade as science fact,¡± Spick added.

The trend was threatening to overwhelm some journals and peer reviewers, Spick warned, which could reduce ¡°바카라사이트ir ability to assess more meaningful research ¨C ultimately weakening 바카라사이트 quality of science overall¡±.

The paper calls for 바카라사이트 issues to be addressed by researchers, journals and peer reviewers.

It recommends researchers use 바카라사이트 full datasets available to 바카라사이트m unless 바카라사이트re¡¯s a clear and well-explained reason to do o바카라사이트rwise, and that 바카라사이트y are transparent about which parts of 바카라사이트 data were used, over what time periods, and for which groups.??

Journals should streng바카라사이트n peer review by involving more researchers with statistical expertise and make greater use of early desk rejection to reduce 바카라사이트 number of formulaic or low-value papers entering 바카라사이트 system.

¡°We believe that in 바카라사이트 AI era scientific publishing needs better guard rails¡±, Anietie Aliu, co-author of 바카라사이트 study and a postgraduate student at Surrey, said.

¡°Our suggestions are simple things that could help stop weak or misleading studies from slipping through, without blocking 바카라사이트 benefits of AI and open data. These tools are here to stay, so we need to act now to protect trust in research.¡±

juliette.rowsell@ws-2000.com