A TL;DR for Students (summarizing this: https://eytanadar.medium.com/ai-native-phd-students-f9f6eebc1f91)
• Use GenAI proportionally to how well you know something. The temptation to use it for things you find hard will be high. GenAI will also feed your productive procrastination habits. Fight it.
• Know which parts of your work are load-bearing. Can you defend a choice, state what would falsify your result, or explain why this analysis and not another one? These are load-bearing decisions and need to be yours.
• GenAI is sycophantic. It will tell you what you want to hear and won’t tell you when it’s wrong.
• Quantity is not a moat. Hiring committees are starting to ask what you can do that a Claude Pro subscription cannot. If the honest answer is “produce more of the same,” you’re in trouble.
• Ask others to help you with accountability. Your mentors and peers can help keep you honest in your use of GenAI.
• What counts as a paper is about to change. Optimizing for today’s publishable unit means being permanently a step behind. Learn your domain well enough so you can lead rather than follow.