Root problem: Demand in research funding is much bigger than supply. Introducing: complicated grant application system to distribute funding.
20xx: Grant proposals are getting very complicated; writing bureaus are increasingly used to support researchers putting their ideas on paper in a way that increases their chances in winning the funding lottery. 1/x #Academia#Funding#LLM#ChatGPT
2025: Many many more research grant applications are submitted. So many that this is not feasible any more. Introducing: using AI to filter through all the submitted proposals.
This is inspired by a conversation I had today with someone working at a University grant office. This is not a joke. I learned that for a national grant it’s estimated that 30% are written using AI. And that funding bodies currently discuss whether to use AI to deal with possible exponentially increased submissions?? Besides the “to disclose” or “not to disclose” debate… 3/x
SERIOUSLY: What are we doing? 😱
“Solving” a problem (too many submissions) with the very same technology that caused it? And probably making it even worse, because what type of proposals are likely to get through? The human-written or the AI-written ones?
We should look closely at the process; not throwing AI at everything. Only silver lining: closer interaction between applicant & funding body is also discussed. Not sure if that is AFTER the AI filter tho… 4/x #Academia#Funding#LLM#ChatGPT