Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?

Summary

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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We invite the community to comment on this working document. What do you think, is our profession at risk of being replaced? What would be proper countermeasures or means for true co-existence of AI and human researchers?
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