Courtney Jones, a PhD student in Law, plots a path through overcoming imposter syndrome in novel research
No two PhDs are alike – each contributes something new to an existing body of research. However, some PhDs, for example those focusing on new or emerging technologies that did not exist 10 years ago, consider entirely novel ideas. Completing such a doctorate comes with its own unique challenges and stresses.
My own research is focusing on the application of law to AI nudification – the ability of a person to upload a fully clothed photo to a website, click a button, and generate a ‘nudified’ image based on that photo. Just a few years ago, these applications and websites which might be considered a form of deepfake, did not exist. My hope with this research is to come up with legal reform that would protect would-be victims from having their images used in this way. Ideally, those responsible for drafting and implementing tech policy will be made aware of my research and its findings.
When I was drafting my PhD application, Google Scholar would yield no results when I typed the word ‘nudification’ into the search bar (which made for what was probably a slightly-more-difficult-than-usual application drafting process for me). Today, as I write this blog post, it yields 86 results.
Doing a PhD on such a new technology is both exciting and stressful. Because there is so little research in the area, it means there is ample opportunity for me to make an original contribution to knowledge in this area. On the flip side, though, it means there is very little literature which I can draw from to guide my own work.
Moreover, I feel that I am always worried that someone will beat me to it; that by the time I finish my doctorate, someone else will have had the same ideas as me and will get around to publishing on this first. When I think about this, the imposter syndrome often hits me hard – am I the right person to be doing this? What if I get it wrong? What if the research I put out there doesn’t make a difference in the way I had hoped, or at all?
I’ve shared these concerns with my supervisors, and they gave me some excellent advice. The first piece of advice is this: when you’re doing research in a novel area, it’s a huge opportunity to shape the direction the research takes. They also gave me this next, perhaps even more helpful, piece of advice: just because someone else is researching in the same area as you does not mean that your contribution won’t be original.
Whenever I find myself panicking about whether my research project will constitute an original contribution to knowledge, I now remind myself that even if someone publishes something on part of my research, that doesn’t mean that what I have to say about the issue will be the same, and it doesn’t make my own PhD redundant. As researchers, we’re all trying to come up with ways to solve the world’s problems or uncover truths. We need to remember that we’re part of a much larger conversation, and that what we have to contribute matters.
Courtney Jones is a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Exeter. Her research is examining the application of criminal and human rights law to AI-facilitated image-based sexual abuse, specifically AI nudification, using a feminist theoretical framework. She holds a BSc (Neuroscience) from Memorial University in Canada, and an LLB (Hons) and MResSocio-Legal Research (Distinction) from the University of Exeter. In her spare time she enjoys reading books, drinking coffee and playing with her Pomsky.