THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE RESEARCH CYCLE IN THE ERA OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

Abstract

This article provides a narrative review of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in scientific research, with a focus on psycho‑pedagogical studies and educational settings, particularly those involving children and adolescents. The aim is to synthesize practices of integrating AI across the research cycle, outline documented benefits, and systematize key methodological, ethical, and socio‑cognitive risks, as well as to show how these issues are reflected in institutional policies. The study is conducted as a theoretical review with purposive selection of peer‑reviewed publications, official documents, and open policies of universities and educational authorities (mainly 2023–2026); in total, more than 40 sources were analyzed, 19 of which were integrated through citations. The results summarize practical benefits of AI tools, including reduced time spent on routine operations, support for working with large datasets and identifying patterns, and partial compensation for limited technical skills in the humanities and social sciences. In parallel, the paper analyzes risks such as model «hallucinations» and errors, threats of disseminating unreliable knowledge, privacy and surveillance concerns in education, reproduction of social biases, and risks to academic integrity due to unauthorized or undisclosed use of generative tools. Institutional responses are examined (updates to honor codes, transparency/disclosure requirements, and data‑related restrictions), and a set of cases from universities and educational/government bodies (USA/Europe/Ukraine) is presented. The paper also discusses empirical cases of productive AI use and «centaur/cyborg» interaction models, the concept of the «blurred boundary» of AI capabilities, and the practice of «vibe coding» as an approach to rapid prototyping followed by human editing and verification.