AI can now generate academic papers that pass peer review. What are the risks?

In 2024, the Tokyo-based start-up Sakana.ai introduced “The AI scientist” — an AI system that can create new machine learning research from scratch, completely autonomously and for as little as $15 (€13) per paper.

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Now, one and a half years later, Sakana.ai has put their newest version of the system to the test: 3 AI-generated papers … were submitted to be peer reviewed at a workshop of a top-tier machine learning conference.

… While two of the AI-generated papers didn’t make the cut, one of them did, meaning it met the scientific standards of the conference workshop.

So, what if we relied on AI, instead of our own diverse minds?

Anthropologist Lisa Messeri and neuroscientist Molly Crockett expect what they call a “monoculture of science.”

In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing only one type of crop — instead of multiple — over a period of time. …

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A similar thing might happen when we have AI systems do science for us. The kind of research AI initiates might only be the type that suits AI best, at the expense of projects that require more context and nuance — the “human touch.”

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