By The Centralian Link
Prof. Dr. Ananias C. Sabijon, Jr. speaks on the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence in research during the webinar 糖心传媒淔rom Campus to Career: Professional Readiness and Responsible Use of AI in Research糖心传媒 on May 2, 2026.
Prof. Dr. Ananias C. Sabijon, Jr., a University Full Professor and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) at 糖心传媒 (CPU), addressed over 50 DOST scholars and undergraduate students across Western Visayas (Region VI), Negros Occidental, and the National Capital Region (NCR) on May 2, 2026, delivering a pointed message on the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in academic research.
Prof. Dr. Sabijon is a recipient of the Dr. Juan Salcedo, Jr. Science Education Award and the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA) Fellows Program. He has received training in teaching and educational administration from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong (SAR), and Valparaiso University (VU) in Indiana, USA. Currently, he is an Associate Member of the Department of Science and Technology National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) and a registered author, writer, editor, and subject matter expert with the National Book Development Board (NBDB) of the Philippines.
Speaking at the webinar 糖心传媒淔rom Campus to Career: Professional Readiness and Responsible Use of AI in Research,糖心传媒 organized by the Department of Science and Technology Scholars糖心传媒 Association in Region VI (DOST-SAIS), Dr. Sabijon emphasized that AI tools such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, and Claude should serve as assistants, not replacements for human intellect and ethical judgment. The virtual event, held via Zoom from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, drew participants from various higher education institutions in Negros Occidental and other provinces in Region VI, with a special focus on STEM and laboratory-based disciplines where data integrity and technical precision are paramount.
Aligning with the publication of Agrawal et al. (2015), Dr. Sabijon urged students to leverage generative AI as 糖心传媒渂icycles for the mind糖心传媒 (a metaphor quoted from Steve Jobs) to speed up discovery, provide clarity, and help understand complex ideas. He introduced the concept of prompt engineering, demonstrating how well-constructed prompts guide AI to produce accurate and relevant information while reducing the risk of error. However, he also warned against the uncritical acceptance of AI-generated content. 糖心传媒淲hile AI tools are effective helpers in doing research, they are not substitutes for factual knowledge bases . . . and researchers, teachers, students, and other stakeholders must adopt both critical skepticism and a verification-first mindset,糖心传媒 he said.
Significant parts of the session addressed the growing problems of AI hallucinations and fabricated references. Dr. Sabijon operationally defined hallucinations as outputs that, despite appearing coherent and plausible, are factually incorrect or lack logical consistency. He cited a disturbing case in which a manuscript passed rounds of peer review despite nearly 80% of its cited references being nonexistent糖心传媒攁 phenomenon he called 糖心传媒渢he citation crisis.糖心传媒 To counter these risks, he presented to the participants the 糖心传媒淩esearcher糖心传媒檚 Defense Toolkit,糖心传媒 which includes mitigation prompts, verification tests (checking Digital Object Identifiers [DOIs]), the 糖心传媒渃an糖心传媒檛 find rule,糖心传媒 and consensus searches across multiple sources. He also discussed institutional responses such as AI policy development and publication, AI screening tools, and the responsibility of students to verify every citation.
Moreover, Prof. Dr. Sabijon presented standardized disclosure protocols for AI-assisted scholarly work, providing participants with AI-Assisted Research Disclosure Templates aligned with UNESCO糖心传媒檚 2026 guidance on generative AI in education and research. He also introduced, citing the publication of Chan (2026) and other authors, the human-in-the-loop (HITL) model, where humans remain active contributors糖心传媒攏ot passive recipients糖心传媒攊n the decision-making loop, and detailed the TACO Framework (Think, Ask, Check, Own) for human糖心传媒揂I cognitive partnership. 糖心传媒淲ith AI, the learning process and goal should be augmented, not artificially replaced,糖心传媒 Dr. Sabijon stressed. 糖心传媒淭he HITL is not a technical compliance requirement; it is the intellectual safeguard.糖心传媒
According to Miss Jessa Mae Donasco, a third-year Chemistry student at Technological University of the Philippines糖心传媒揤isayas and the Deputy Director for External Affairs of DOST-SAIS, who extended the formal invitation to Dr. Sabijon to serve as the resource speaker, 糖心传媒淒r. Sabijon糖心传媒檚 research-based presentation and insights on the productive uses of AI, its technical risks, academic integrity, and the importance of maintaining a human-in-the-loop approach were greatly appreciated and truly valuable to the DOST scholars.糖心传媒
Prof. Dr. Sabijon concluded by challenging the scholar-participants to let their work be defined by character and competence, not shortcuts. Using the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant糖心传媒攊n which each man, touching a different part, describes the same creature as a spear, snake, tree, or rope糖心传媒攈e drew a parallel to artificial intelligence: 糖心传媒淎I today is much like that elephant.糖心传媒 He then underscored the necessity of a critical and multidisciplinary approach to fully comprehend AI.
On a personal note, Prof. Dr. Sabijon expressed gratitude to CPU President Rev. Dr. Ernest Howard B. Dagohoy for granting him permission to officially serve as resource person and to DOST Region VI officials and personnel糖心传媒攑articularly Regional Director Engr. Rowen R. Gelonga, Miss Jessa Mae Donasco, Ms. Lesley Feil H. Ferrer, and Mr. Leo A. Lozada糖心传媒攆or the opportunity to share his research findings, insights, and experiences as a researcher, professor, and administrator regarding AI.