Abstract

There can be little doubt that researchers across the world are leveraging artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including text-generation models, within their research activities. Grant proposals, based on the standard requirements for bulk text inputs, are uniquely positioned as a research activity readily able to be supported by AI tools as well as representing a significant risk to the scientific community related to research misconduct, including plagiarism and fabricated citations. A 2023 Nature survey of 1,600 researchers found that more than 15% of respondents have used AI technology to help them write grant proposals. Despite this, and to the best of our knowledge, none of the major global funders of biomedical research have policies in place that discourage and/or regulate the use of AI tools in the preparation of grant proposals.

The Research Funders Policy Group, comprising science and health research funders in the UK, published a joint statement in 2023 in which they set out expectations around the use of generative AI tools in funding applications. The joint statement highlights several benefits arising from the use of AI tools, but also highlights the potential risks, including ethical, legal and integrity, within the proposal development workflow. The responsibility is placed firmly on researchers to ensure that AI tools are used responsibly and in accordance with the policies of institutions and agencies/organisations, where they exist.

The Research Development Team, within the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences Research Office, in collaboration with colleagues in UCT’s Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) are actively engaging with the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences research community to ensure that researchers are informed and aware of the potential risks of using AI tools as well as to educate and, thereby empower, researchers to use these tools in a responsible and effective manner for the development of competitive grant proposals. This presentation will share initial lessons in supporting staff in using generative AI for grant writing, including an emerging set of guidelines for the responsible use of AI tools in proposal development.