"Highly embarrassing" introduction of AI: editors of science magazine quit
A renowned research magazine loses almost its entire editorial team. Among other things, it criticizes the uncoordinated, problematic introduction of AI.
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Shortly before the turn of the year, almost the entire editorial team of a renowned scientific journal for the study of human history resigned, citing, among other things, the problematic use of AI technology in the production process. This can be seen in the statement from the editorial team of the Journal of Human Evolution (JHE), which was published on the RetractionWatch blog. The editorial team writes that the actions of the scientific publisher Elsevier, which publishes the JHE, fundamentally contradict its ethos. It also criticizes the magazine's high subscription fees. According to RetractionWatch, this is the twentieth such mass resignation from a research magazine since 2023.
AI causes a lot of extra work
In the statement, the move is primarily justified by changes to the structure and responsibilities that Elsevier has implemented. However, it also criticizes interventions in the production process that have "regularly" caused additional work. For example, Elsevier is said to have introduced AI technology to revise articles in the fall of 2023 without consultation or prior information. This changed spellings and even articles that had already been approved. This was "highly embarrassing" for the magazine and it took months to rectify the problems. AI is still being used and it not only changes formatting, but also some of the meanings in manuscripts. What is needed is comprehensive control by the editorial team.
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The mass resignation points to another problem that the rapid development and widespread availability of AI brings with it for research. A year ago, it was pointed out that AI techniques such as ChatGPT & Co. may be increasingly used in the important process of pre-reviewing scientific papers. There were indications that this was mainly due to time pressure. The ex-editors of JHE are now suggesting that Elsevier is primarily concerned with further cost reduction, despite exorbitant subscription fees for the magazine. At the same time, however, AI technology is not bad for science per se; it is increasingly helping in research itself.
(mho)
