Aug 4, 2025 07:00 PM
What does scientific publishing look like if every paper is AI-generated or at least AI co-authored?
https://www.openresearch.wtf/have-we-alr...king-point
INTRO: Last week I attended the Future of scientific publishing conference organized by the Royal Society. I went to something similar a decade ago, which made me ponder what we were suggesting would be the future versus what has actually come to reality. I think that can be summed up as ‘the establishment of preprints and open data’. We still dream of real-time release of information from labs around the world, with post-publication peer review, and we may get there.
However, there were two comments at the conference that really played on my mind. First was the sentiment that came up in a few panel discussions that we may be overestimating the effects of AI on scientific publishing. I feel quite the opposite. I think we are underestimating the effect of AI on scientific publishing.
If we look 10 years into the future, what will AI change? For those thinking it is as monumental a shift as the web, that didn't change too much about the way academics disseminate their research. We now just publish PDFs on the web instead of printing them out and sending them around the world.
What makes AI different is that it's already affecting content creation. What does the web look like if all content is bot-produced? What does scientific publishing look like if every paper is AI-generated or at least AI co-authored? This brings me to the other comment that weighed heavy on my mind... (MORE - details)
https://www.openresearch.wtf/have-we-alr...king-point
INTRO: Last week I attended the Future of scientific publishing conference organized by the Royal Society. I went to something similar a decade ago, which made me ponder what we were suggesting would be the future versus what has actually come to reality. I think that can be summed up as ‘the establishment of preprints and open data’. We still dream of real-time release of information from labs around the world, with post-publication peer review, and we may get there.
However, there were two comments at the conference that really played on my mind. First was the sentiment that came up in a few panel discussions that we may be overestimating the effects of AI on scientific publishing. I feel quite the opposite. I think we are underestimating the effect of AI on scientific publishing.
If we look 10 years into the future, what will AI change? For those thinking it is as monumental a shift as the web, that didn't change too much about the way academics disseminate their research. We now just publish PDFs on the web instead of printing them out and sending them around the world.
What makes AI different is that it's already affecting content creation. What does the web look like if all content is bot-produced? What does scientific publishing look like if every paper is AI-generated or at least AI co-authored? This brings me to the other comment that weighed heavy on my mind... (MORE - details)