# Are Researchers Being Replaced by Artificial Intelligence?

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16294 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.16294/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 0 of its 10 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Apr 2026.

## Abstract (arXiv)

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.