- Since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, AI has shaken higher education. However, the deepest impact is on the doctoral level, where AI is fundamentally altering the concept of “original scholarly contribution.”
- Current AI models can write literature reviews, generate programming code, analyze data, and propose scientific hypotheses. With “agentic” AI, capable of setting sub-goals, learning from feedback, and coordinating tasks, nearly the entire PhD research process could be machine-assisted or automated.
- The author simulates a PhD project using a fictional AI assistant, HALe, which can retrieve environmental data, perform statistical analysis, write a scientific draft, suggest critiques, and create an open data repository — completing the work in hours instead of months.
- Although current systems are not yet fully autonomous, this capability reflects what AI has already achieved: writing essays, reasoning, processing real data, and visualizing results with increasing reliability.
- This raises the question: What constitutes “original research”? When AI can generate content and analysis, the role of the PhD candidate shifts from execution to questioning, critical evaluation, and verifying the AI’s output.
- PhD training needs to focus on critical evaluation, identifying AI errors, analyzing machine-generated data, and avoiding “intellectual skill atrophy” due to over-reliance.
- The format of thesis defense, live critique, and real-time problem-solving may become more important than the traditional written dissertation.
- Some universities have taken action: Oxford launched a machine learning course for faculty, Nanyang (Singapore) mandated AI literacy, and the University of New South Wales provided campus-wide access to ChatGPT Edu. However, most new policies stop at ethical guidelines, without touching the core nature of training restructuring.
- If AI can shorten the PhD process from years to months, institutions will have to choose between shortening the program or expanding the scope of interdisciplinary research.
📌 AI is shaking the very foundation of the PhD degree – the highest symbol of independent thought. When machines can analyze, write, and create, the true value of a doctoral researcher will lie in their ability to think critically, frame problems, and control the AI. The format of thesis defense, live critique, and real-time problem-solving may become more important than the traditional written dissertation.
