Dear Colleagues,

ChatGPT is a large language model (LLM) - a machine learning system which has been trained on large data sets and has the potential to be further trained to return results closely resembling text produced by humans. It is this capacity that has earned it acclamation and awe from researchers who see advances in academic text creation, help in EAP for non-native speakers of English, educational benefits for students, etc. It has even been co-opted as co-author in academic publications, leading some journals to amend journal policy. The unlimited access to ChatGPT sets it firmly in the academic ecosystem. The Special Issue is dedicated (but not limited) to the following problems to address the current situation:

-          What is the place for LLMs in academic production? Which academic tasks can be assigned to ChatGPT? Which academic tasks should not be?

-          What is an author in academia and can ChatGPT be an author? How can LLMs be accounted for in academic writing?

-          What is the place of human verification of LLMs production? ChatGPT has been reported to produce pseudo-scientific nonsense.

-          How should quality standards be set to account for LLMs? What quality standards should be expected from LLMs?

-          What is the place for LLMs in teaching and learning? Should LLMs be incorporated formally in the education process? Results in the so-called “small languages” can be faulty.

In a time when many specialized science apps flourish, not to mention apps that aim to help write better English, how does ChatGPT change the game? Should we all just “focus on embracing the opportunity and managing the risks” (Van Dis et al. 2023)?

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.

ChatGPT; Large language models (LLMs); Academic ethics; Academic writing; Academic publishing policies; LLMs in education; ChatGPT potential threats; ChatGPT verification