Generative AI in Sociological Research: A Survey of Computational Sociologists

• In Event: 20268 - Culture and Computational Social Science (Co-sponsored by Section on Mathematical Sociology)

Abstract

Following the release of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer-3 (GPT-3) in 2020 and the browser-based conversational interface ChatGPT in 2022, academics have been forced to grapple with what was previously a niche tool known as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and the underlying "large language models" (LLM) powering these interfaces. While many scholars are currently providing useful speculation on the possibilities, pitfalls, and hype of GenAI, we present a survey of how sociologists and their collaborators are using (or are not using) these tools, as well as their attitudes about GenAI more generally. We do so at the early stages of adoption and rejection, with the understanding that these uses and attitudes are likely to change, as are the tools.

Authors

• AJ Alvero, Cornell University

• Dustin S. Stoltz, Lehigh University

• Marshall A. Taylor, New Mexico State University

• Oscar Stuhler, Northwestern University