Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly influencing the way scientific research is conducted, raising questions about its impact on understanding and education. On November 6, the Graduate School held a virtual discussion as part of its “Conversations in Graduate Education” series. The event featured Lisa Messeri from Yale University and Molly Crockett from Princeton University, who co-authored the Nature article “Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific research.”
Messeri and Crockett discussed how AI tools can sometimes create a false sense of comprehension among researchers. They presented a framework for identifying these potential misunderstandings and outlined strategies for using AI responsibly to support research efforts and scholarly development.
“This session was an opportunity for graduate program directors and faculty to reflect on the impact artificial intelligence — or automation, as Drs. Messeri and Crockett call it — will have on research training into the future,” said Molly Lotz, moderator of the session and director of Research Training Initiatives and interim director for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. “The speakers applied the findings in their Nature article to graduate education, sparking a discussion about how to train early-career researchers in the context of AI.”
The conversation also addressed broader issues facing graduate education today, such as finding a balance between leveraging AI technologies and maintaining critical thinking skills and ethical awareness that are essential for meaningful scientific work.
Lisa Messeri is an associate professor at Yale University specializing in anthropology of science and technology. Her work examines how expert communities develop new areas of knowledge. She has authored books including “Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds” (2016) and “In the Land of the Unreal: Virtual and Other Realities in Los Angeles” (2024).
Molly Crockett is a professor at Princeton University with appointments in psychology and human values. Their research focuses on psychological effects related to technology use, integrating approaches from multiple disciplines. Crockett also co-directs Princeton’s Future Values Initiative, which supports interdisciplinary scholarship on ethics in science and technology.
