The Bot Delusion. Large language models and anticipated consequences for academics’ publication and citation behavior

Abstract

The reproduction of social inequalities through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning via artificial neural networks (ANN) has been demonstrated empirically in various areas of society, for instance in policing and personnel hiring decisions. Yet, a broader discussion is missing to what extent ANN technological developments may affect the scientific enterprise and reinforce or mitigate existing structural inequalities in academia. Focusing on publications and citations as main currencies in science, the anticipated consequences of ChatGPT on the research communication of existing and new knowledges are discussed in three scenarios, which echo the social structures in academia.