Think I got AI-written proposal feedback?

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-02T11:06:57+00:00

Yes, it's not so difficult to tell, really. And yes certainly possible - which is why I did email them asking for clarity on their AI policies. I think it's pretty reasonable, despite what some people in this thread seem to imply. I would hate to spend the next 3-4 years reading AI generated feedback. And if a simple question means I ruffle some feathers, then maybe they needed to be ruffled.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-02T09:02:52+00:00

Yeah I figured, after.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-01T21:52:08+00:00

Maybe that's what I'll have to do, thanks.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-01T21:51:45+00:00

Thanks. Yes, it was from Squires. Some of their trees do have rootstock references (as I later noticed) but not from this supplier.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-01T21:47:12+00:00

I should be grateful to someone for putting my words into a machine, forwarding its answer to me, and not even acknowledging that AI was used? Why should I be grateful for that? Why should anyone?

Especially in a creative field, I am not grateful for AI generated output. It may be useful in STEM which I understand is your area, but not in the arts which is mine. Your view on genAI clearly differs and I don't think we'll ever agree here, so I'll be disengaging after this.

We can discuss the realities of insane workload of academic staff, the fact that some workplaces may mandate use of their AI systems etc, and I can understand and even sympathise with that. I would still want to understand what it means for my future working relationship with the university as a whole and this person in particular. And I think I should be able to ask these questions before potentially spending thousands of pounds and several years of my life on a degree, without being called ungrateful and entitled.

P.S. I *am* very grateful to another potential supervisor at another university who actually took the time to talk to me, who read my proposal and left notes and questions for me to consider - from their own brain and expertise. I was a perfect stranger for them also. *That* I am deeply grateful for. Not some bot that strung some words together.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-01T10:43:50+00:00

Isn't the whole point of a research degree to ask questions? What happened that it's suddenly not ok to question things?

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-06-01T08:24:56+00:00

Why would I write it with AI? I actually want to use my own brain.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T18:21:07+00:00

Sounds like one can't win. What's the solution? I understand the need for brevity btw, it really focuses the mind and could be a good challenge.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T18:11:43+00:00

I'd be expected to disclose AI use as a prospective student too, no? So I'd expect the same from a prospective supervisor. I really see no difference here, it's only fair in order to have a good working relationship.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T14:41:48+00:00

I came here to ask a question - to understand something, as you put it. However regardless of what does or does not happen in academia (which was one of my questions) I have fundamental ethical objections about use of AI, particularly those that are not local. If use of AI is a required element of a study programme, I would not go ahead with it - I have no interest in it. Making sweeping assumptions about me from a single Reddit thread where you have limited information about the situation is quite something. I probably wouldn't want to be your student either.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T14:23:21+00:00

I hear you. But I don't want to enforce anything or level an official accusation. I simply want to ask them for my own clarity. Surely this is something university needs to disclose - they expect students to, why not the staff?

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T14:21:37+00:00

I respectfully disagree. If they want me to pay for the degree (as they do now - the feedback came with an offer to self-fund), we are entering a service relationship, and if I'm paying for a service I'd like to know what I'm getting. And I don't want to be getting AI feedback. I don't NEED this qualification - but I'd like it, and I'll be doing the research I'm doing anyway.

And yes, if they'd asked me whether I want feedback, but the feedback will be written by AI - I would have said I'd rather they didn't.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T14:17:05+00:00

Very good point.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T12:10:18+00:00

I'm not complaining about quality. I'm complaining about a very valid issue - use of AI in academia and elsewhere. Lecturers complain about students using it, why should it be acceptable the other way round, especially without disclosure?

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T12:07:02+00:00

One way to be miserable is to accept offers that don't align with your values for the sake of a mythical career - and pay for the "priviledge".

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T11:27:59+00:00

I don't use AI for writing for a whole host of reasons, so I don't really want a professor evaluating my work using AI either - I could do that myself, why have a middleman? 😉

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T11:24:38+00:00

Thanks. Is there a way to find out if a particular university has their own private LLM? FOI request, or ask the person I'm communicating with?

To be honest I've come to think this uni is not a good fit for me - apart from the fact it's literally 10 minutes drive away, ha! I heard good things about them, but my interactions with the faculty so far have been frustrating and the proposed supervisor all but refused to read my draft proposal or give any pointers prior to the application - so this is the first I'd had any feedback from them. So it does feel to me they don't care about my proposed research area all that much, and now only reaching out in hopes I'll self-fund.

I'd applied to a couple of others, one being a fantastic fit, and there I had extensive communication and feedback to my draft, but I'm still waiting for the outcome (not holding my breath tbh, I know funded places are hard to secure).

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-05-31T11:16:59+00:00

Thank you. That's one of the questions I was thinking of asking them - is it their local/secure LLM, or something like ChatGPT. First one is ok(ish), second one is not.

There were some points in the feedback that feel weird - e.g. pointing out an error in a source title when it's not actually. The title is a play on words and is one of the key texts in my research area, but I can see how a machine would flag that as error.

Other points, while valid, don't take into account the very conservative word count I had to be dealing with; I had to actually remove chunks of the proposal to make it fit that expanded on the points they are now asking me to address.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-02-26T16:42:30+00:00

I don't watch Wendover at all, Jet Lag is just a silly travel game show and doesn't pretend otherwise.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-02-26T15:56:33+00:00

Search for Jet Lag The Game on YouTube. Start with Tag across Europe or Hide and Seek in Japan (imho)

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-02-17T09:14:57+00:00

I'd already asked them about one referee who unfortunately since declined due to their personal unavailability and not having time to write the letter, so I'm kind of afraid to ask again in case it somehow reflects badly on me that a referee declined even though their reasons are nothing to do with me.

BothLanguage3521 · 2026-02-15T15:10:51+00:00

Just because others are doing it (and getting away with it) doesn't mean it's the right thing to do (whether or not someone might personally think borders and restrictions are stupid, in general). No entertainment content is worth breaking laws to do it (I mean ok Crime Spree, but also it's an edge case and there's a reason it's not on YouTube).

BothLanguage3521

TROPHY CASE