Writing scientific medical papers involves critical thinking, especially when it comes to interpretation, making inferences and suggesting future clinical and research implications. AI can certainly help with structuring a scientific paper and with grammar or reducing the word count to fit journal requirements, but it should not be relied on for thinking through the meaning of the paper. And if we do, there is a serious risk of stagnation of thought due to reliance on repurposing old/existing thoughts, and worse still, there is a serious risk of atrophy of critical thinking abilities for students and seniors - the cornerstone of scientific advancement. The way forward is to harness responsible AI (1).
Atrophy of critical thinking
Writing scientific medical papers involves critical thinking, especially when it comes to interpretation, making inferences and suggesting future clinical and research implications. AI can certainly help with structuring a scientific paper and with grammar or reducing the word count to fit journal requirements, but it should not be relied on for thinking through the meaning of the paper. And if we do, there is a serious risk of stagnation of thought due to reliance on repurposing old/existing thoughts, and worse still, there is a serious risk of atrophy of critical thinking abilities for students and seniors - the cornerstone of scientific advancement. The way forward is to harness responsible AI (1).
Reference:
1. Resbonsible AI. https://rai.ac.uk Lest 10.9.2025.