Employing AI in Academia: the Role of ChatGPT in Generating Research Questions

Abstract

Large language artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT from OpenAI have been used to complete a variety of tasks within both the business and academic communities. One application within the latter that we find particularly intriguing is the ability of a tool like ChatGPT to provide research questions to academicians operating in disparate fields of study. The capacity for the generative AI models to replace hours of brainstorming about what might be an appropriate question is the classic time-saving scenario for which these tools are best designed. In our situation, we ask ChatGPT to deliver research questions based on the varied interests (using JEL codes) of three academics: an accountant drawn to primarily empirical tax questions, an economist chiefly motivated by the study of political processes related to national security and war economies, and an accountant largely interested in questions about behavior often best answered by employing experimental designs.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Research Questions, Generative AI

JEL Classification: O32, O33, I23