Drivers and Barriers of AI Adoption and Use in Scientific Research

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bianchini, Stefano, Müller, Moritz, Pelletier, Pierre
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Bianchini, Stefano
Müller, Moritz
Pelletier, Pierre
author_facet Bianchini, Stefano
Müller, Moritz
Pelletier, Pierre
contents New technologies have the power to revolutionize science. It has happened in the past and is happening again with the emergence of new computational tools, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Despite the documented impact of these technologies, there remains a significant gap in understanding the process of their adoption within the scientific community. In this paper, we draw on theories of scientific and technical human capital to study the integration of AI in scientific research, focusing on the human capital of scientists and the external resources available within their network of collaborators and institutions. We validate our hypotheses on a large sample of publications from OpenAlex, covering all sciences from 1980 to 2020, and identify a set key drivers and inhibitors of AI adoption and use in science. Our results suggest that AI is pioneered by domain scientists with a `taste for exploration' and who are embedded in a network rich of computer scientists, experienced AI scientists and early-career researchers; they come from institutions with high citation impact and a relatively strong publication history on AI. The access to computing resources only matters for a few scientific disciplines, such as chemistry and medical sciences. Once AI is integrated into research, most adoption factors continue to influence its subsequent reuse. Implications for the organization and management of science in the evolving era of AI-driven discovery are discussed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_09843
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Drivers and Barriers of AI Adoption and Use in Scientific Research
Bianchini, Stefano
Müller, Moritz
Pelletier, Pierre
Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
New technologies have the power to revolutionize science. It has happened in the past and is happening again with the emergence of new computational tools, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Despite the documented impact of these technologies, there remains a significant gap in understanding the process of their adoption within the scientific community. In this paper, we draw on theories of scientific and technical human capital to study the integration of AI in scientific research, focusing on the human capital of scientists and the external resources available within their network of collaborators and institutions. We validate our hypotheses on a large sample of publications from OpenAlex, covering all sciences from 1980 to 2020, and identify a set key drivers and inhibitors of AI adoption and use in science. Our results suggest that AI is pioneered by domain scientists with a `taste for exploration' and who are embedded in a network rich of computer scientists, experienced AI scientists and early-career researchers; they come from institutions with high citation impact and a relatively strong publication history on AI. The access to computing resources only matters for a few scientific disciplines, such as chemistry and medical sciences. Once AI is integrated into research, most adoption factors continue to influence its subsequent reuse. Implications for the organization and management of science in the evolving era of AI-driven discovery are discussed.
title Drivers and Barriers of AI Adoption and Use in Scientific Research
topic Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.09843