{"id":222970,"date":"2026-03-12T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/a-phd-is-an-apprenticeship-in-research-we-cant-let-ai-take-that-away\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:50:08","slug":"a-phd-is-an-apprenticeship-in-research-we-cant-let-ai-take-that-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/a-phd-is-an-apprenticeship-in-research-we-cant-let-ai-take-that-away\/","title":{"rendered":"A PhD is an apprenticeship in research \u2013 we can\u2019t let AI take that away"},"content":{"rendered":"

A PhD is an apprenticeship in research \u2013 we can\u2019t let AI take that away<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/theconversation.com\/a-phd-is-an-apprenticeship-in-research-we-cant-let-ai-take-that-away-277486<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-12 15:14:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: theconversation.com<\/a><\/p>\n

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT-5 in August of last year, many academics scoffed at the tech company\u2019s claims its new artificial intelligence (AI) model possessed \u201cPhD-level\u201d intelligence.<\/p>\n

After all, how could systems so prone to hallucination, flawed reasoning, and sycophancy compete with the world\u2019s brightest young minds?<\/p>\n

Yet academics are now routinely using tools such as ChatGPT to assist them in their research in much the same way they might once have relied on PhD students. Perhaps the most famous example is the world\u2019s best-known mathematician, Terence Tao, who reports using generative AI as a mathematical collaborator.<\/p>\n

I myself was recently turned from a skeptic into a believer when, over the course of a few months, I carried out a research project using a range of generative AI tools to perform tasks which I\u2019d normally carry out in collaboration with my PhD students.<\/p>\n

But this experience also highlighted a hidden danger of AI \u2013 one that shows why it would be unwise for anybody, whether they\u2019re an academic or not, to substitute AI for actual apprentices. <\/p>\n

The engine-room of research production<\/h2>\n

PhD students are the engine-room of research production that underpins much scientific progress. Under guidance from their supervisors, they devise hypotheses and experiments, theorise mathematical models, write proofs, and draft research papers. <\/p>\n

But doing a PhD is much more than cheap research labour. A PhD degree is an apprenticeship in research. Today\u2019s students are tomorrow\u2019s research leaders. To get there, students learn how to ask the right questions, how to critique findings and, ultimately, how to take responsibility for the science they produce. <\/p>\n

Much of my own research develops mathematical models to explain why computer systems and programs are and \u2013 just as often \u2013 are not secure. This involves developing mathematical definitions and theories, stating theorems and writing logical proofs, but also implementing defensive…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A PhD is an apprenticeship in research \u2013 we can\u2019t let AI take that away…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/722209\/original\/file-20260305-57-qdr2q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&rect=0%2C411%2C2890%2C1445&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[20,19],"class_list":["post-222970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-generative-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222970"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222972,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222970\/revisions\/222972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}