# Rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Science

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.20960 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.20960/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 12 of its 60 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [SciBERT: A Pretrained Language Model for Scientific Text](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.10676/) (2019)
- [OpenAlex: A fully-open index of scholarly works, authors, venues, institutions, and concepts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.01833/) (2022)
- [Generative AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.07930/) (2023)
- [GeneGPT: Augmenting Large Language Models with Domain Tools for Improved Access to Biomedical Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09667/) (2023)
- [ChatGPT and a New Academic Reality: Artificial Intelligence-Written Research Papers and the Ethics of the Large Language Models in Scholarly Publishing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13367/) (2023)
- ["I think this is the most disruptive technology": Exploring Sentiments of ChatGPT Early Adopters using Twitter Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.05856/) (2022)
- [The Potential Impact of AI Innovations on U.S. Occupations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.04714/) (2023)
- [AI Knowledge and Reasoning: Emulating Expert Creativity in Scientific Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.04436/) (2024)
- [Has China caught up to the US in AI research? An exploration of mimetic isomorphism as a model for late industrializers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10198/) (2023)
- [The Global AI Vibrancy Tool](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.04486/) (2024)
- [Collaboration and topic switches in science](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.06826/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Academic journals' AI policies fail to curb the surge in AI-assisted academic writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.06705/) (2025)
- [Generative AI and the future of scientometrics: current topics and future questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.00783/) (2025)
- [Generative AI in Science: Applications, Challenges, and Emerging Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.08310/) (2025)
- [Useful for Exploration, Risky for Precision: Evaluating AI Tools in Academic Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.10125/) (2026)
- [Scientific exploration, collaboration and labor division in the large language model era](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.20923/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI, generative AI) has rapidly become available as a tool in scientific research. To explore the use of generative AI in science, we conduct an empirical analysis using OpenAlex. Analyzing GenAI publications and other AI publications from 2017 to 2023, we profile growth patterns, the diffusion of GenAI publications across fields of study, and the geographical spread of scientific research on generative AI. We also investigate team size and international collaborations to explore whether GenAI, as an emerging scientific research area, shows different collaboration patterns compared to other AI technologies. The results indicate that generative AI has experienced rapid growth and increasing presence in scientific publications. The use of GenAI now extends beyond computer science to other scientific research domains. Over the study period, U.S. researchers contributed nearly two-fifths of global GenAI publications. The U.S. is followed by China, with several small and medium-sized advanced economies demonstrating relatively high levels of GenAI deployment in their research publications. Although scientific research overall is becoming increasingly specialized and collaborative, our results suggest that GenAI research groups tend to have slightly smaller team sizes than found in other AI fields. Furthermore, notwithstanding recent geopolitical tensions, GenAI research continues to exhibit levels of international collaboration comparable to other AI technologies.