DU JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT & SOCIAL SCIENCES

• Oluwole Gabriel ADEKOLA

  Obafemi Awolowo University

  Author

• Benjamin Victor MOMOH

  Obafemi Awolowo University

  Author

• Oluranti Juliet OGUNDERU-ADEKOLA

  Obafemi Awolowo University

  Author

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative tool in various domains, including the social sciences, offering tools that can process large datasets, identify patterns, and make predictions with unprecedented speed. AI has the potential to democratise social science research by making sophisticated analytical tools more accessible to a broader range of researchers. The study explored how AI is currently adopted in Social Science research, examined the benefits of AI-based methods compared to traditional approaches and investigated the challenges and criticisms raised concerning its usage, and how such challenges can be effectively addressed. It relied on primary and secondary data, in the sense that primary data was obtained directly by the researcher through prompts to AI tools such as ChatGPT and Otio. It is acknowledged, however, that AI-generated responses are derived from pre-existing datasets on which these models were trained, which places them in a contested methodological category, that scholars may regard as secondary or tertiary in nature. The researchers have nonetheless treated them as primary data given the original and direct nature of the collection process. The secondary data was sourced from books, journal articles, online materials and other publications. The study found that the challenges related to the use of AI are real, and cannot be overlooked. It was also discovered that AI tools continue to be fine-tuned and as such evolve daily, which means that the field of Social Sciences must rise to the occasion before it is late. This work concludes that AI has huge potential to improve and enhance the conduct of research in the Social Sciences, but several challenges come with it. These challenges can be navigated, nevertheless, by implementing guidelines for AI’s use in research work.

1. Oluwole Gabriel ADEKOLA, Obafemi Awolowo University

   Department of International Relations, Faculty of Administration Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

2. Benjamin Victor MOMOH, Obafemi Awolowo University

   Department of International Relations, Faculty of Administration Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

3. Oluranti Juliet OGUNDERU-ADEKOLA, Obafemi Awolowo University

   Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State

• pdf