Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Salatino, Angelo A., Scherp, Ansgar, Kreutz, Christin Katharina, Vahdati, Sahar
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Salatino, Angelo A.
Scherp, Ansgar
Kreutz, Christin Katharina
Vahdati, Sahar
author_facet Salatino, Angelo A.
Scherp, Ansgar
Kreutz, Christin Katharina
Vahdati, Sahar
contents A Nature survey from 2023 involving 1,600 researchers shows that scientists are ``concerned, as well as excited, by the increasing use of artificial-intelligence tools in research.'' This tension frames our central question: Are researchers being replaced by artificial intelligence? We argue that replacement is already underway-not as disappearance, but as a shift from researcher-as-creator to researcher-as-curator. As AI agents increasingly generate hypotheses, papers, and reviews, humans risk retaining responsibility while losing intellectual ownership. This article examines how AI is reshaping the scientific lifecycle and exposes the deeper danger: not that AI will fail to do science, but that humans may stop truly understanding it.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_16294
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?
Salatino, Angelo A.
Scherp, Ansgar
Kreutz, Christin Katharina
Vahdati, Sahar
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
A Nature survey from 2023 involving 1,600 researchers shows that scientists are ``concerned, as well as excited, by the increasing use of artificial-intelligence tools in research.'' This tension frames our central question: Are researchers being replaced by artificial intelligence? We argue that replacement is already underway-not as disappearance, but as a shift from researcher-as-creator to researcher-as-curator. As AI agents increasingly generate hypotheses, papers, and reviews, humans risk retaining responsibility while losing intellectual ownership. This article examines how AI is reshaping the scientific lifecycle and exposes the deeper danger: not that AI will fail to do science, but that humans may stop truly understanding it.
title Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16294