I attended a conference recently and AI use by academics was absurd

# I attended a conference recently and AI use by academics was absurd Source: [https://lobste.rs/s/qn7jtv/i_attended_conference_recently_ai_use_by](https://lobste.rs/s/qn7jtv/i_attended_conference_recently_ai_use_by) As we listened to talks most people were stuck doing pointless tasks on their phones and computers\. Less than 10%, likely 5%, were listening attentively\. This was quite sad for me\. The thing I would like to share the most, that shocked me more than any AI use I've seen ever—when I was on stage receiving QA post talk among the fellow panelists, everyone but me used AI on their laptops to record their questions and then come up with a response they could use\. IDK about others, but I spent a lot of time on my talk and slideshow\. The professor who served as the respondent listened for two hours taking a ton of notes then formed thoughtful questions\. I cannot believe the laziness and disrespect to the professor's intellect for all the other panelists to rely on AI for their response\. For me, the seduction of AI to do boring tasks such as translation, CV writing, and job applications, and editing papers is forever there but I choose to believe these tasks benefit me as someone trying to be a so\-called intellectual\. To see everyone around me choose to not think for themselves, when we presenters should be the most knowledgeable in the room about our topics, shocked me beyond anything I've seen in academic\. I am constantly considering the use of AI in the classroom and research and thought this reflection/rant would be relevant here\. I'm curious if my fellow Lobsters have seen similar uses of AI or what their opinions are\.