Richard J Wenning, Wenning Environmental LLC, Portland, Maine, US
Wenning 2026_What to do about AI? Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2026, 22, 633–636 https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjag028
ABSTRACT:
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, large language models, and AI-powered research platforms are rapidly reshaping scientific research and science education. These AI tools are readily accessible and capable of producing sophisticated text that is difficult to distinguish from human-written content. This prompted Dwivedi et al. (2023) to ask in the title of their recent review of AI applications across academia and business, “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” and Pearson (2024) to ask, “Can AI review the scientific literature, and figure out what it all means?” Both questions capture unease within the scientific community, where AI-assisted research, literature review, writing, and peer review challenge long-standing norms about authorship, originality, and scholarly responsibility. As GenAI tools capable of producing fluent scientific text become more integrated into research workflows, their use raises fundamental questions about transparency, intellectual contribution, bias, and the integrity of the scientific record. These questions require careful examination and rational answers to define the appropriate use of GenAI and AI-powered tools. It also inspires a third question: Is there a middle ground between automatic acceptance and outright ban?
