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arXiv · 2605.16294

Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?

Angelo A. Salatino·Ansgar Scherp·Christin Katharina Kreutz·Sahar Vahdati
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Abstract

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.

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Angelo A. Salatino, Ansgar Scherp, Christin Katharina Kreutz, Sahar Vahdati. 2026-04-14. Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16294

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