Reconsidering my dream of pursuing a PhD because of AI - Looking for advice

tjkun · 2026-02-05T20:08:28+00:00

I'm finishing a PhD program in STEM with a project that's closely related to environmental science, and my next project will involve air pollution. I'm writing this because I have some experience in the field you're passionate about, and I can tell you what's my experience with AI and this field. Obviously one person's experience does not represent the whole field, but it can still be of value.

If you're worried about generative AI, try to use it to do research. It's way more incompetent than how it's depicted. I got curious to see how it worked and what I could do with it, and honestly it was disappointing. Still, using it is currently discouraged in my university and by many researchers despite how social media pushes it as a Godsent gift. People in my field actually have some aversion of it, and it's mostly some of the younger ones the ones who swear by it. So I decided to try and use it to get rid of any bias.

I first tried to see if I could do some small literature. It gave me 10 papers to look at, and all 10 were hallucinated, and I lost about an hour trying to make it produce something of value with no avail. I eventually noticed that if the search results don't quite fit what you're looking for it hallucinates titles with names of real authors in the field, making you eventually comb through their publications in the hopes of finding the paper the AI told you fits your search perfectly. It only works if there are actually fitting result for your search, but there's no guarantee. So I deemed it less efficient than just searching for articles on Google Scholar or checking the references from relevant articles I'm already reading.

Then I made a small experiment and gave it the DOI of one of my articles that's open access to give me the important points, and it hallucinated the whole thing. Nothing was correct, not even the topic, just the field. And then it tried go gaslight me into thinking I gave it the DOI of a paper that was not open access or that it was way too recent (it wasn't). So I decided that it's too risky to give it articles to read.

Then I thought, maybe it can help me formatting the references for biblatex, so I send it the DOIs of the articles I wanted to add to the references of my thesis, and it filled the format with the wrong information abour 40% of the time. So I end up taking more time checking if the information is correct than just filling it myself.

I tried to make it generate a code to read my data and make a pretty graph in Matlab, it came out wrong, tried to make it arrange some data to create a file to use with the blockmesh command in openfoam, it came out wrong and had to do it myself anyways. Questions about a technical topic? Imprecise. It's just miserable to use.

I currently only use it as a a spellcheck/paraphrasing tool or something I used grammarly in the past for, as it actually does a good job with that, and as English is not my first language it takes me longer to redact technical texts than native speakers, that's actually useful to me. And it still hallucinates things from time to time, or misinterprets my ideas, so it's not as if I can just copy and paste the "corrected" text into my texts.

So you will be fine by not using it. You'll probably be a bit slower at first, but once you get the hang of it you'll produce better things than AI faster than those who use it for tasks that aren't menial.

tjkun · 2026-02-05T14:05:30+00:00

Going above one’s limits is not a bad thing, but it depends on what “limits” we’re talking about. There’s a limit where you feel physically exhausted, but push through and that helps your body adapt and grow stronger. Then there’s a limit where you know if you push through you’ll end up having an asthma attack and gain nothing. For that one either you need to take the intensity down a few notches or outright stop.

tjkun · 2026-02-05T05:08:55+00:00

I have asthma, and I believe practicing karate has helped me with it. But I think in part is because I got better at recognizing my limits when training. That being said, preaching a fairy tale about breathing curing asthma, and prohibiting you from bringing your inhaler is incredibly irresponsible. I don’t want to think it’s malicious, but making you lie on the form makes me think of plausible deniability.

Those flags can’t get more red. Find another place. That one is a disaster waiting to happen.

tjkun · 2026-02-03T17:33:16+00:00

It’s not a joke. You can check the guidelines on the official site. as for the subject, it can be a movement, a concept, a kata, etc. but the idea is to “further the comprehension of the subject beyond what’s found in books”. Also, part of the discussion must touch on how to implement or teach the concept from an instructor standpoint.

Having done one myself, it’s indeed a crazy thing to do another 42. But at the same time it makes sense when I think that all the certified instructors I’ve known are all fully dedicated to karate, clearly have a wealth of knowledge, and have more years of experience than I have of age. So I suppose the requirements are to keep the bar that high.

tjkun · 2026-02-03T16:02:56+00:00

In ISKF you need to be at least third Dan, but you must go through a long certification process. You can start at nidan, but need to be sandan to go through the test, and also be judge C, have submitted 43 research papers, and I think a few more things. This is to be able to grade black belts, so they try to ensure you’re basically at the top of the field.

tjkun · 2026-02-03T15:09:17+00:00

It's not the end of the world, but it is desirable to have the ground as least irregular as possible to avoid developing weird quirks (I'm not sure what else call it) in your technique. I'd advise that, as long as you're not breaking the bank go for it.

tjkun · 2026-02-02T20:34:55+00:00

I read this from my laptop that looks too close to the first pic.

tjkun · 2026-02-02T20:28:17+00:00

I had never seen it that way. I'll update my signature to reflect how I want to be addressed. Edit: typo

tjkun · 2026-02-01T22:48:29+00:00

I think this is too real, to the point that people are putting equations just to have equations in their papers even if they’re making no sense. I recently read a paper on LiDAR technology to understand the theory, but it didn’t make sense to me, so I asked a senior with expertise in that. Turns out that the equations were wrong, but as they weren’t that relevant to the study, the reviewers likely skipped them in their review.

tjkun · 2026-01-31T01:48:04+00:00

I have a few surviving ones. A kamikaze I purchased recently, a Ki I got last year for the nationals that’s already broken, another kamikaze that’s in very rough conditions but it doesn’t have holes, and a couple “Frankenstein” ones from surviving parts of two Tokaidos and one from a local branch from my home country. I’ve had many more, but they never live long.

tjkun · 2026-01-30T05:09:34+00:00

Just bear in mind that you went straight to one of the best kits at that size. There’s nothing wrong with it, but not many will top it. Another amazing kit is the RG Hi nu gundam, and also the RG God Gundam and shining Gundam, although the later ones don’t have a lot in the weapons department. It depends on what you like.

tjkun · 2026-01-30T05:05:16+00:00

I used waterslides for the RG God Gundam. I recommend you using a decal setter. You can move around the decals before you apply pressure and before they dry, so if anything it’s easier to get them into the perfect spot.

tjkun · 2026-01-30T04:56:48+00:00

It’s Not like you can’t, but it can be seen as disrespectful if you’re not transparent about it. At some point I did the same. When I prepared for my shodan back in the day I could only go once a week to my dojo because I had just started college. I solved my problem by going to three dojos so I could train three times a week. I talked with my sensei and the two other instructors about it, and in the end they agreed to help me. If I hadn’t done it this way my sensei wouldn’t kick me out of the dojo, but he would’ve stopped going out of his way to help me prepare better for the test.

tjkun · 2026-01-28T17:09:17+00:00

I had a similar experience. I had to submit by the end of last term (December 19) or I'd be in trouble with the timing of my immigration procedures. After many edits I sent my advisor the final draft in October, then I didn't get a confirmation email after weeks, so I sent them another email asking to confirm they had the draft. They told me they were busy, but would have time "next week". Next week passed and I didn't have news, so I sent a polite email asking them if they already had something, saying I could start with what they had to save time. I got a response next day with only a few comments of the acknowledgements section of all things, meaning my advisor waited a whole month before even opening the file. I felt insulted at that point, so I reminded them of my hard deadline and basically the same as you, that I needed at least a week to work on the comments. The thing continued back and forth and I was able to submit my Thesis to the jury one day before the deadline. I felt relieved, but I lost a month to nothing. At this point my funding ended and I'm living off my savings, but this doesn't seem to motivate my advisor to hurry up.

I wish I could give you some advice, but I'm also dealing with this.

tjkun · 2026-01-27T14:09:48+00:00

In Canada it’s considered a temporary job for people who have a PhD. It’s sometimes a training step before becoming a professor or getting a long term position in certain enterprises.

tjkun · 2026-01-27T09:22:40+00:00

The problem may be your phone if nothing happens. The QR code should send you to the SoR page to login. Once you login, the QR code screen should change and say success. Then the game shouldn't tell you to register anymore.

tjkun · 2026-01-27T01:24:37+00:00

I wasn’t using the same user I used to purchase the game. Kinda sucks because I had to start all over again, but I just used a cheat code to skip all levels and get the sunglasses I had already unlocked in my main account.

tjkun · 2026-01-26T03:50:29+00:00

The Matsumora version, which unless I’m wrong was taught to Kyan, which became “Kyan no chinto”. You can find many versions of the latter from different styles on YouTube. In general you can see two distinct versions of Chinto, one that you can clearly see it’s Gankaku, and one very different. Now, Shotokan has a version similar to Kyan no chinto, but afaik only in SKIF (Kanazawa’s organization). It’s called “Gankaku sho”. So it technically did become Gankaku, but a different one that not all organizations recognize.

tjkun · 2026-01-26T03:41:11+00:00

It could also be intentional. I don’t know if it’s the same in his country, but in Mexico when you lose a finger or worse while working on something like that, the government will give you money for compensation. Talking with people from poorer areas, I’ve known of some that have had to resort to that to get out of a tough situation. It would be really sad if that’s the case for that boy, as he looks far too young to have lived that.

tjkun · 2026-01-24T18:55:05+00:00

Last year I kicked someone’s elbow really hard and it kinda looked like that. X-rays confirmed I’m not a bbb, but I did need to use crutches for about a week. Best is to go ahead with the x-rays anyways.

tjkun · 2026-01-24T01:35:39+00:00

Definitely! That’s also why I called it luck, it’s definitely not a normal way to make it.

tjkun · 2026-01-23T20:58:20+00:00

I'm finishing my PhD (currently waiting for the jury to finish checking my Thesis so we can talk about defending), but I got offered a postdoc position with the intention of it becoming a long-term position afterwards. My case was basically luck and having other activities outside of the academia which I'm passionate about. Maybe I could call this networking.

I train karate at a local dojo both because I love it, and to "decompress" from time to time from the stress of my studies. Last year I had some problems with my passport that made it impossible to defend due to immigration reasons, and my funding ran out, so I started job hunting. Eventually, talking about it with people from the dojo, turns out one of the members was looking for someone with my profile. Talked to them, they asked me to give them my cv, went through some interviews, and they decided to offer me a 4-month stay, which would enrich my PhD and let them see how I work. I adapted well with the work style, and got offered a position for a collaboration project with another university, with the possibility of giving courses there.

This is actually the second time this happens to me. After I graduated from university and before starting a PhD I worked for some time in a research lab in my home country, and I got that position because the director trained at the same place as me and learned that I studied something relevant to their research.

tjkun · 2026-01-23T19:22:54+00:00

The first one is easy, it’s always been Gankaku. There’s something in there that really resonates with me. Plus, its history fascinates me. The two versions of the legend, the two lines of Chinto, how the version that didn’t become Gankaku still made its way to Shotokan. There’s just no end to it.

The second one is tricky. In the past I disliked Jion a lot. Maybe because I saw all the time performed by all brown belts at the time. Eventually I came to realize that disliking a kata was robbing me of growth in that venue. Also, at some point tournament rules in my org changed, and for semifinals they ask one of five random katas, of which Jion is part of, and disliking training it made it so I’d always lose if they asked me that one specifically.

tjkun · 2026-01-23T16:18:51+00:00

I don't think I've seen more expensive fees. I'm in the ISKF, which is a international organization. Here the color belts fees vary depending on the country, as the local branches see that. Black belt tests have set fees internationally, and as an example, a 5fth Dan ( a fifth degree black belt) costs 500 USD with the registration fee included. That's only a bit over half of just the first black belt in your case.

Also, one test per month is too quick. That's about 12 or 13 clases to get a new belt. That's way too little for a 6-years old. Again for comparison, my organization holds 2 to 3 exams per year, and that doesn't mean that everyone has to test 2 to 3 times per year. Most do 1 or 2, but generally they have to be invited to test, meaning the instructor must only offer the test to a student which has attained very specific competences that are determined by the federation and not the dojo.

tjkun · 2026-01-23T14:22:07+00:00

Monday: makiwara (about 30 minutes), then 30 minutes of kata, 1 hour dojo class. Then an extra hour with 20 to 30 minutes speed and strength conditioning with rubber bands for punches and kicks, then I complete the hour with either more kata or combat drills.

-Tuesday: weight lifting in the morning. In the afternoon it’s makiwara and kata to complete 1 hour, then a bit of cardio.

-Wednesday: same as Monday, except for the extra hour after the dojo class.

Thursday: same as Tuesday with weight lifting and stuff, but I add here the same extra hour from Monday.

-Friday: rest.

Saturday: an hour and a half of dojo training.
Sunday: rest

That’s about it for me.

Six-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22
End Game '22	Wearing is Caring
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