The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence
The introduction of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT has raised many challenging questions about the nature of teaching, learning, and assessment in every subject area, including science. Unlike other disciplines, natural science is unique because the ontological and epi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer Nature
2024
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94406 |
| _version_ | 1848765870122205184 |
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| author | Tang, Kok Sing Cooper, Grant |
| author_facet | Tang, Kok Sing Cooper, Grant |
| author_sort | Tang, Kok Sing |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The introduction of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT has raised many challenging questions about the nature of teaching, learning, and assessment in every subject area, including science. Unlike other disciplines, natural science is unique because the ontological and epistemological understanding of nature is fundamentally rooted in our interaction with material objects in the physical world. GenAI, powered by statistical probability arising from a massive corpus of text, is devoid of any connection to the physical world. The use of GenAI thus raises concerns about our connection to reality and its effect on science education. This paper emphasizes the importance of materiality (or material reality) in shaping scientific knowledge and argues for its recognition in the era of GenAI. Drawing on the perspectives of new materialism and science studies, the paper highlights how materiality forms an indispensable aspect of human knowledge and meaning-making, particularly in the discipline of science. It further explains how materiality is central to the epistemic authority of science and cautions the outputs generated by GenAI that lack contextualization to a material reality. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for research and teaching that recognize the role of materiality in the context of GenAI, specifically in practical work, scientific argumentation, and learning with GenAI. As we navigate a future dominated by GenAI, understanding how the epistemic authority of science arises from our connection to the physical world will become a crucial consideration in science education. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:42:07Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-94406 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:42:07Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-944062024-04-05T01:34:22Z The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tang, Kok Sing Cooper, Grant The introduction of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT has raised many challenging questions about the nature of teaching, learning, and assessment in every subject area, including science. Unlike other disciplines, natural science is unique because the ontological and epistemological understanding of nature is fundamentally rooted in our interaction with material objects in the physical world. GenAI, powered by statistical probability arising from a massive corpus of text, is devoid of any connection to the physical world. The use of GenAI thus raises concerns about our connection to reality and its effect on science education. This paper emphasizes the importance of materiality (or material reality) in shaping scientific knowledge and argues for its recognition in the era of GenAI. Drawing on the perspectives of new materialism and science studies, the paper highlights how materiality forms an indispensable aspect of human knowledge and meaning-making, particularly in the discipline of science. It further explains how materiality is central to the epistemic authority of science and cautions the outputs generated by GenAI that lack contextualization to a material reality. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for research and teaching that recognize the role of materiality in the context of GenAI, specifically in practical work, scientific argumentation, and learning with GenAI. As we navigate a future dominated by GenAI, understanding how the epistemic authority of science arises from our connection to the physical world will become a crucial consideration in science education. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94406 10.1007/s11191-024-00508-0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Springer Nature fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Tang, Kok Sing Cooper, Grant The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence |
| title | The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial
Intelligence |
| title_full | The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial
Intelligence |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial
Intelligence |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial
Intelligence |
| title_short | The Role of Materiality in an Era of Generative Artificial
Intelligence |
| title_sort | role of materiality in an era of generative artificial
intelligence |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94406 |