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Until very recently, if you were looking for information about some scientific topic – whether COVID-19, climate change or genetically modified foods – your first stop was likely a search engine. What did Dr. Google have to say?
But now, more and more people are posing their questions to ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence platforms. Rather than searching the internet for information related to your query, these AI chatbots create their own answer by predicting likely word combinations.
And that could be a major problem if you’re hoping for a factual answer to your question, write Gale Sinatra and Barbara K. Hofer. As scholars who focus on science denial, Sinatra and Hofer write that they’re concerned by the way “generative AI may blur the boundaries between truth and fiction for those seeking authoritative scientific information.” Since the burden to discern accuracy falls to the AI chatbot user, they suggest some tips to help you navigate the new information landscape.
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Approach all information with some initial skepticism.
Guillermo Spelucin/Moment via Getty Images
Gale Sinatra, University of Southern California; Barbara K. Hofer, Middlebury
Generative AIs may make up information they serve you, meaning they may potentially spread science misinformation. Here’s how to check the accuracy of what you read in an AI-enhanced media landscape.
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Politics + Society
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Graig Klein, Leiden University; Scott Boddery, Gettysburg College
Invading, attacking and killing adversaries abroad can boost the political prospects of leaders doing poorly at home.
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Jennifer Greenburg, University of Sheffield
Women who served in unofficial combat and intelligence roles during the Afghanistan war offer brutally honest accounts of their experiences.
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Health + Medicine
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Melody White, University of Connecticut; C. Michael White, University of Connecticut
Sedative-hypnotic drugs can distort a patient’s perception of reality. Some patients wake up from a procedure believing they have been sexually assaulted.
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Ethics + Religion
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Deirdre de la Cruz, University of Michigan
The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.
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Megan Bryson, University of Tennessee
Buddha’s birthday has not always been a major holiday for Buddhists, but is now celebrated in diverse ways throughout Asia.
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Economy + Business
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Ximena Garcia-Rada, Texas A&M University; Michael Norton, Harvard University; Rebecca K. Ratner, University of Maryland
New research on our desire to create shared memories with the people we care about offers insights for companies that want to improve their customer service.
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Science + Technology
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Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University; Andrew Carr, University of Leicester
This was an area in which early anatomically modern humans survived, evolved and thrived, before spreading out of Africa to other continents.
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