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Transforming Cybersecurity Research: AI as our Research Assistant in Academia

Authors:

Sara Abbaspour

Research group:

Cyber-Physical Systems Analysis

Publication Type:

Conference/Workshop Paper

Venue:

International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Computer, Data Sciences and Applications

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), is quickly transforming the field of academic cybersecurity research. It is no longer just a tool for basic automation; instead, AI is becoming an active partner in the research process. It assists researchers in analyzing large volumes of data, identifying security weaknesses, and gathering and organizing threat information more efficiently than ever before. This paper examines how the collaboration between AI and cybersecurity researchers is developing within academic environments, focusing on areas where AI has shown significant value, such as finding software vulnerabilities, analyzing malicious software, and responding to security incidents. The discussion draws from practical experiences at top research organizations and global partnerships, emphasizing the need for clear and open processes, the ability to understand AI decisions, protection of personal information, and strong ethical guidelines. To focus our study, we examine two main questions: one about how AI is helping researchers, and the other about the possibility of AI becoming more independent in conducting research. While AI offers clear benefits in terms of efficiency and new findings, our analysis also highlights the risks of depending too much on AI results and stresses the continued necessity of thorough human review. Our goal is to assist academic institutions that want to use AI in their work, ensuring that cybersecurity research progresses while maintaining high ethical and scholarly standards.

Bibtex

@inproceedings{Abbaspour7356,
author = {Sara Abbaspour},
title = {Transforming Cybersecurity Research: AI as our Research Assistant in Academia},
month = {March},
year = {2026},
booktitle = {International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Computer, Data Sciences and Applications},
url = {http://www.es.mdu.se/publications/7356-}
}