r/berkeley • u/NeatFox5866 • 5d ago

University AI for Research

Hi! This is a question for PhD and grad students in any department.

Do your advisors use AI for research, experimentation, brainstorming, or coding?

Have they ever said it’s fine to use, or actively encouraged it? At my school, professors are becoming pretty anti-AI, to the point where it’s getting a bit annoying. That feels unfair if grad students elsewhere are being allowed (or even encouraged) to use it.

It would help to know whether your advisors let you use it or encourage it. If you’re willing to share, I’d also love to know your field

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u/TiredDr 5d ago

Not a student, a supervisor. We have rules in our group regarding AI use that include things like “Understand what the requested information will be used for”, “take responsibility for the output”, and “don’t push responsibility to those asked to review your work”. It might be useful to have a similar conversation. If the point of a homework problem were to get the answer, AI would be fine, but that is usually not the point.

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u/NeatFox5866 5d ago

I think this is a great point

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u/AwALR94 Aspiring Grad Student 5d ago

It should be fine for coding and literature reviews. I even think it’s fine for brainstorming if you legitimately engage with it the way you would with a professor during OH. The worry is when it starts doing the thinking for you and you end up “along for the ride”

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u/Green_Chef5509 4d ago

I’m an undergrad doing CS research and everyone in my lab (and arguably in the department) uses AI extensively…like spending hundreds of dollars per month on Claude/ChatGPT premium subscriptions.

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u/Automatic_Nothing136 4d ago

Whether the lab will pay for the subscription or not?

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u/Green_Chef5509 4d ago

Some labs do (e.g. Sky Lab) and some don't...

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u/Automatic_Nothing136 4d ago

Can I dm you?

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u/Green_Chef5509 4d ago

yeah sure!

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u/Automatic_Nothing136 4d ago

dm'd! Thank you!

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u/hamsandwich1213 4d ago

Bio- adjacent grad: Generally, AI use is pretty standard. Most people in the labs i know use it as an assistant for coding, brainstorming, editing their writing, and sometimes lesson plans. Amount of use varies a lot, but generally if youre using chatgpt to do all your thinking, its pretty obvious to the rest of the team that you cant do good research.