TechCrunch’s AI Newsletter: Generative AI Spamming Academic Publishing
Are AI-generated articles infiltrating academic publishing? This week in AI, a concerning trend has emerged with fake journals filled with AI-generated content making their way into the academic world. Assistant professors of philosophy have uncovered three journals published by Addleton Academic Publishers that are entirely made up of AI-generated articles. These articles are filled with buzzwords like “blockchain,” “metaverse,” and “deep learning,” and even list deceased individuals on their editorial board.
But why is this a big deal? These fake journals are manipulating systems used to evaluate researchers for promotions and hiring, such as CiteScore, by extensively cross-citing each other to boost their rankings. This manipulation could have serious implications for the careers of knowledge workers in various industries.
While some may argue that the issue lies with flawed metrics like CiteScore, the abuse of generative AI is disrupting systems that people rely on for their livelihoods. This raises questions about the need to reevaluate and redesign these systems to be more equitable and inclusive in the face of AI advancements.
In the world of AI, exciting developments continue to unfold. DeepMind is working on AI technology to generate soundtracks for videos, while researchers at the University of Tokyo have trained a humanoid robot to drive a car. Additionally, a new AI search engine called Genspark is using generative AI to provide custom summaries in response to search queries.
On the creative side, Runway has unveiled Gen-3 Alpha, a generative AI tool that can generate video clips from text descriptions and images. This advancement in video generation technology promises improved speed and fidelity, offering fine-grained controls over the structure, style, and motion of the videos created.
However, as AI continues to advance, challenges arise, such as the inaccuracy of AI voice order-taking technology in fast-food drive-thrus. McDonald’s recently announced the removal of automated order-taking tech due to its high error rate, highlighting the limitations of AI in tasks that require understanding diverse accents and dialects.
As we navigate the evolving landscape of AI, it’s crucial to address the ethical implications and challenges that arise from its misuse. The future of AI holds great promise, but it also requires careful consideration and responsible implementation to ensure positive outcomes for society as a whole.