Search papers, labs, and topics across Lattice.
This paper critiques current policy responses to generative AI in research, particularly focusing on authorship and disclosure, which may distract from deeper systemic issues in scholarly communication. The authors propose that instead of merely regulating AI's role, the research ecosystem should evolve to enhance trust and accountability among all stakeholders involved in the research lifecycle. By envisioning two contrasting futures for 2036, they highlight the need for a foundational shift in how scientific communication is structured, addressing the purpose of research artifacts and the incentives that govern them.
Shifting the focus from regulating AI use in research to fundamentally rethinking the infrastructure of scholarly communication could redefine trust in academic publishing.
Generative AI has infiltrated every stage of the research lifecycle: how scholarship is conducted, written, published, and reviewed. Recent policy responses, such as ACM's authorship policy, address an immediate concern about responsible and transparent disclosure of AI use. We argue that a focus on authorship and disclosure, although necessary, risks obscuring and ballooning a set of entrenched problems and strains within publication systems. The central question is not about how papers and other research artifacts should incorporate AI, but how scientific communication itself should evolve when all relevant parties (authors, reviewers, readers) may rely on AI assistance. We draw on our experience within these and other roles to illustrate two contrasting but feasible visions of 2036 with four entwined questions, namely about the purpose of papers as artifacts, reviews, human reviewers, and the incentives that bind all of them. We argue for a shift from policing GenAI and other disruptive technologies to building the infrastructure of provenance, calibration, and accountability that would make trustworthy scholarship the default. We conclude with three grand challenges and invite the community to a broader conversation and research pathways.
