Is using ChatGPT to help write papers and grants is useful, and ethical?

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by San Francisco-based OpenAI and released to the public in November 2022. Using reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), the program can maintain accurate and human-like conversations with people about an increasingly wider range of topics. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems also have creative abilities in music, poetry and art built on previously published and publicly available human creations. Beyond entertainment and treatment for loneliness, ChatGPT is also useful for scientific writing. For those who have yet to play around with this functionality, it is tempting to use ChatGPT to write the introduction of a grant or paper. Even complicated concepts can be summarized within seconds and written to any level of audience. While ChatGPT cannot come up with the ideas, it can help the authors effectively communicate them. It is also a practical tool for improving grammar, spelling and style for English-only publications and granting agencies.