A new advisory from TechPinas cautions students against using generative AI platforms to produce bibliographic citations, warning that chatbot-generated references are often fabricated and cannot be verified through academic databases.
The article explains that large language models do not retrieve real journal articles; they predict word sequences based on training data, leading to plausible-sounding but nonexistent sources. This undermines academic integrity and can result in citations that professors cannot locate.
TechPinas advises using AI strictly for brainstorming, outlining, and writing improvement, while relying on verified academic databases and citation managers for references. Crafting prompts that focus on research strategies rather than source generation is recommended to maintain credibility.