The Pros and Cons of Using Chatbots (English for Academic Research) - Softcover

Wallwork, Adrian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3032001781 ISBN 13: 9783032001788

Publisher: Springer, 2025

Synopsis

Problem
The world has got itself in a muddle with AI, and particularly with chatbots. There is a lot of misunderstanding and far too much focus on the supposed negative aspects:

• formulaic style of chatbot writing
• bias inherent in many chatbot answers and generated texts; lack of inclusivity
• educators mistaken thinking that they can intuitively tell the difference between a human-generated text and a bot generated text; and that by default a human text is always better
• mistaken attitudes, even among students themselves, that using chatbots is a form of cheating rather than a highly effective study and teaching aid
• too much faith given to AI detectors, and too little understanding of how students are really using chatbots (i.e. mostly to advise, suggest and correct, rather than generate)

 

Solution and aims
The aim of the book to give clear strategies for dealing with the negatives typically associated with chatbots and at the same time highlight the invaluable help that chatbots can give all types of users.  Very often in the world of education, both in English- and non-English speaking countries, these features and strategies get overlooked. 

The book will teach readers strategies for

• distinguishing between human and AI generated texts in order to understand that both have their pros and cons
• coaxing bots to produce more human-like texts, and at the same time detailing methods for acknowledging usage of bots (in essays, assignments, papers etc.)
• identifying bias in their own and AI generated texts, and remedying this bias
• avoiding plagiarism
• avoiding being unjustly accused of AI usage (students): avoiding unjustly accusing students of using AI inappropriately (teachers, professors, journal editors)

The audience is thus not just non-native speakers, who were the main audience for the English for Academic Research series. Instead this book is aimed at everyone in education, yet using the same user-friendly structure that has become a hallmark of the Academic Research series. 

 

Outcomes
Teachers and professors will be better equipped to educate their students on how to use and not use chatbots. They will also learn that trusting their intuition with regard to whether a text was generated with a bot, or whether their students have committed plagiarism is absolutely not failsafe and should be avoided.

Students will be able to deal with the recognized challenges of using chatbots: ethics, bias, plagiarism, hallucinations and AI detection.

About this title

About the Author

Adrian Wallwork is from Manchester (UK), but has spent most of his adult life in Italy. He is the author and editor of the English for Academic Research series, along with several course books for OUP and CUP, and six books for the BBC, Scholastic and BEP. 
Adrian has twenty years of experience teaching academic / scientific English to PhD students from over 40 countries. He has held courses and presented at conferences in China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. He has held online course for students in China, Russia, Qatar, Turkey, and the UK.
He is also planning a series of online courses for Udemy.
Contact him for details on all his courses at adrian.wallwork@gmail.com

From the Back Cover

This hands-on guide for PhD students, postdocs and researchers, outlines strategies for prompt generation, editing, and ethical AI use in academia. The book is in the form of a user-friendly manual, using practical examples and real-world scenarios to demonstrate how chatbots can support—and sometimes hinder—academic work. It is aimed at seasoned users of chatbots, as well as those who are AI-hesitant but open to integrating chatbots into their academic work. By viewing AI as a collaborator rather than a replacement, this guide helps you boost—not erase—your intellectual contribution, voice, and academic rigor. 

You will learn how to: 

• optimize your prompting techniques and the way you interact with chatbots
• improve your written English across all formats (papers, presentations, emails) with greater clarity, conciseness, and engagement
• distinguish AI texts from human texts, and make your own AI-generated text sound less like chatbotese
• fact-check and verify chatbot output
• detect and mitigate bias, hallucinations, and plagiarism
• combine critical thinking with prompt-engineering 

For EAP teachers, this book is a great source for i) preparing instructive and entertaining lessons. ii) learning how to generate personalized exercises, and iii) getting tips for teaching students.

Please visit http://www.springer.com/series/13913 for a full list of titles in the series, which includes AI-Assisted Writing and Presenting in English; English for Writing Research Papers; and English for Presentations at International Conferences.

Adrian Wallwork is the author of more than 50 ELT and EAP textbooks aimed at students and researchers. He has trained several thousand PhD students and academics to exploit AI as a support for writing research papers, preparing presentations, and communicating with editors, referees and fellow researchers. His courses are also available on Udemy. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3032001781
• ISBN 13: 9783032001788
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212