AI在科学中的应用增长迅猛,但多集中在计算机领域,且存在高撤稿率和引用溢价。
When AI Meets Science: Research Diversity, Interdisciplinarity, Visibility, and Retractions across Disciplines in a Global Surge

- 区分AI使用与提及,构建双阶段语义分类流程
- 2015年后各学科出现指数级增长,但仅限少数交叉领域
- 发展中国家相对产出更高,揭示资源分布不均问题
我们分析了来自OpenAlex数据库(1960–2024)的超过2.27亿篇学术论文,涵盖四个科学领域和46个学科。为区分AI作为研究方法的应用(AI采用)与提及相关术语的行为(AI参与),开发了两阶段人工智能辅助语义分类流程,并通过911篇摘要的人工标注及34.8万篇全文的稳健性检验(PLOS One)验证。结果显示,各领域中AI采用的时间和程度不同,2015年后普遍呈现指数级增长。然而其变革性不明显:AI研究集中于与计算机科学和传统统计框架紧密相关的少数议题,表明认知范式转型有限。此外,该类研究伴随不当引用溢价,且撤稿率显著高于非AI支持研究。地理上,富裕国家人均发表领先,但印尼至阿尔及利亚一带的发展中国家在相对本国产出水平上的AI采纳率更高,显示独特资源集中模式。因此,AI在科学中的潜力尚未释放,快速采纳凸显开放性、透明度、可复现性和伦理挑战。本文探讨如何通过良好研究实践提升其效益,并指出需重点审视的领域。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
The extent to which Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can trigger generalized paradigm shifts in science is unclear. Although these technologies have revolutionized data collection and analysis in specific fields, their overall impact depends on the scope and ways of adoption. We analyze over 227 million scholarly works from the OpenAlex collection (1960-2024) spanning four scientific domains and 46 fields. To distinguish the use of AI as research method (AI adoption) from mentioning AI-related terms (AI engagement), we developed a two-step AI-assisted semantic classification pipeline, validated through human coding of 911 abstracts and a robustness check on 348,000 full-text articles (PLOS One). We document differences in the timing and extent of AI adoption across domains, with generalized exponential growth after 2015. The transformative nature of this growth, however, is less apparent. AI-supported research is confined to a few topics with strong ties to Computer Science and conventional statistical frameworks, suggesting limited epistemological transformation. It is also associated with an unwarranted citation premium and substantially higher retraction rates than non-AI-supported. Geographically, while wealthy countries lead in AI publications per capita, global South countries in a belt from Indonesia to Algeria lead in AI adoption relative to their national output, signaling a distinctive resource concentration pattern. The transformative capacity of AI in science thus remains untapped, and its rapid adoption underlines challenges in research openness, transparency, reproducibility, and ethics. We discuss how best research practices could boost the benefits of AI adoption and highlight areas that warrant closer scrutiny.
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