With regards to Academic Research, AI provides promise while simultaneously causing concern. AI might be used in research to assist with the writing process, organise literature searches, analyse data, generate graphs and figures, and even consider solutions. Overall, AI’s potential for strengthening research and dissemination is great. However, stories of plagiarism, a lack of critical thinking, and intellectual dishonesty also highlight significant pitfalls in its use in academia. Discussions surrounding ethics and how they might guide AI usage would prove useful in identifying potential solutions.

This forum session will focus on introducing ethics currently identified in specific cases and highlighting select AI usages for academic research. Participants are invited to share their insights on AI ethics, uses, challenges, and solutions. If AI use in academic research is here to stay, how can we positively approach its inevitable integration? What do we value most? How do we promote the ethics we identify in this session? How do we model use at all levels of academic research? In short, how can we begin to control the AI narrative?

Biographies

Michael Menchaca

Michael Menchaca is a Professor in the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States. He specialises in distance education, and has designed, implemented, and coordinated online and hybrid programs for over 20 years. He serves as editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education: Technology in Education Edition. He was an IT specialist for many years in the public and private sector. As an educator, he teaches and conducts research in the areas of online learning, technology integration, and social justice with technology.

Grant Black

Professor Grant Black is a Professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013. He is engaged in diverse roles as a global manager, systems builder, executive leader, and university professor. His research and teaching areas include global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ), and organisational management. He also has taught Japanese Management Theory at J. F. Oberlin University, Japan, and a continuing education course in the Foundations of Japanese Zen Buddhism at Temple University Japan. Previously, he was Chair of the English Section at the Center for Education of Global Communication at the University of Tsukuba, where he served in a six-year post in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Professor Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the United Kingdom. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Professor Black is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a Tokyo-based firm specialising in international and intercultural project management, communication projects, and executive leadership and training. He is the director of the Nippon Academic Management Institute (NAMI) and the author of Education Reform Policy at a Japanese Super Global University: Policy Translation, Migration and Mutation (Routledge, 2022). Professor Black serves as a Vice-President for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

Melina Neophytou

Dr Melina Neophytou is the Academic Operations Manager at IAFOR, where she works closely with academics, keynote speakers, and IAFOR partners to shape academic discussions within The Forum, bring conference programmes together, refine scholarship programmes, and build an interdisciplinary and international community. She is leading various projects within IAFOR, notably The Forum discussions and the authoring of Conference Reports and Intelligence Briefings, and she oversees the Global Fellows Programme.

Born in Germany and raised in Cyprus, Dr Neophytou received her PhD in International Development from Nagoya University, Japan, in 2023, specialising in political sociology, the welfare state, and contentious politics. She received an MA in International Development from Nagoya University, with a focus on Governance & Law, and a BA in European Studies from the University of Cyprus, Cyprus.

Dr Neophytou’s research interests currently focus on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the relationship between state and society. Her current work examines technologies such as facial recognition (FRT) and biometric surveillance, and how these tools impact freedom of expression, protest, and social policy.

About the Presenter(s)
-Michael Menchaca is a Professor in the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States.
-Professor Grant Black is a Professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013.
-Dr Melina Neophytou is the Academic Operations Manager at IAFOR, where she works closely with academics, keynote speakers, and IAFOR partners to shape academic discussions within The Forum, bring conference programmes together, refine scholarship programmes, and build an interdisciplinary and international community.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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