Exploring the impact of AI on research practices
A postdigital ethnographic study of doctoral students’ engagement with ChatGPT
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21458773 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zou Qijia (Beihang University), Zhao Shikui (Beihang University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-23 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Continuing Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0158-037X • E-ISSN: 1470-126X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0158037x.2025.2535565 |
| OpenAlex | W4412592068 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 36 |
In the evolving landscape of doctoral education, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has introduced significant shifts, reshaping traditional scholarly practices and knowledge production. Drawing on postdigital theoretical frameworks, this study explores the impact of ChatGPT on the material and relational dimensions of doctoral students’ identity trajectories. By employing research diaries from an ethnographic perspective, the research has brought to the fore the nature of doctoral engagement with ChatGPT. It reveals how AI tools reshape the individual practices of researchers and broader disciplinary and institutional structures that define academic knowledge production. Central to this investigation are the notions of reconfiguration and deterritorialization, which provide a conceptual lens for understanding the evolving nature of academic work in response to AI technologies. Findings reveal that while ChatGPT facilitates greater accessibility, interdisciplinary engagement, and cognitive offloading, it also raises concerns about epistemic dependency, algorithmic opacity, and the shifting role of human expertise. This provides an original perspective and empirical evidence on the role of AI in doctoral education
Ethnography · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Sociology · Anthropology · Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education · Digital Education and Society · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Medicine · Psychology
The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Systems and Institutions
How Things Shape the Mind
What Is ‘Post-digital’?
ChatGPT
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OurPlace2020
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The promise and challenges of generative AI in education
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Controlling the uncontrollable
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Power and knowledge
Using Diaries for Social Research
Reassembling the Social
Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects
Research independence
Hybridity and Ambivalence
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |