AI is saving time and money in research - but at what cost?

"In a survey of more than 2,400 researchers released in October by the publishing company Wiley, 62% of respondents said they used AI for tasks related to research or publication - up from 45% in 2024, when there were 1,043 respondents. Early-career scientists and researchers in physical sciences were the most likely to use AI tools in their work, and were more likely to be early adopters of AI than were later-career researchers or those working in humanities, mathematics or statistics."

"Researchers are using AI tools to help with writing, editing and translating. They are also using them to detect errors or bias in their writing, and to summarize large volumes of studies. In a sample of 2,059 respondents, 85% said AI helped with efficiency, 77% that it helped to increase the quantity of work completed, and 73% that it improved the quality of their work."

"Matthew Bailes, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, says AI tools are popular among astronomers, helping them to process massive data sets. His team has been using AI for about a decade to identify neutron-star signatures in their data. "When you've got 10,000 candidates, it's handy to just be able to whip through it in a few seconds, rather than manually looking at everything.""

AI use in research has increased, with a Wiley survey reporting 62% of more than 2,400 researchers using AI for research or publication tasks, up from 45% in 2024. Early-career scientists and physical-science researchers are more likely to adopt AI than later-career colleagues and those in humanities, mathematics, or statistics. Researchers use AI for writing, editing, translating, error and bias detection, and summarizing large volumes of studies. Among 2,059 respondents, 85% said AI improved efficiency, 77% said it increased quantity of work, and 73% said it improved work quality. Astronomers use AI to process massive datasets and identify neutron-star signatures, and teams are developing generative-AI-driven simulations and visualization tools to support teaching and data exploration.

Read at Nature