This is the context for the recent wave of AI for science: 1. Labor costs for science are going up 👆 2. Costs for training are also going up 👆 3. Funding and TT jobs are decreasing 👇 4. The marginal "innovativeness" of research is also decreasing 👇
Feb 2, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Tech companies are cutting jobs and betting on AI. The payoff is far from guaranteed
AI experts say we’re living in an experiment that may fundamentally change the model of work
AI can cost more than human workers now
When AI labs raise prices, big spending on AI could shift from a flex to a liability.
70 years of AI hype
Quoting from Olivia Guest et al. (2025) "Against the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia."
Rethinking AI for Science Funding
As science stands at an inflection point, how do we organize capital to shape the future of discovery?
Push-button science
Technological advances change not only what we can learn as scientists, but also how science is conducted. Here we explore how automation and outsourcing are affecting the act of doing science.
A Real Political Economy of Technology - The Ideas Letter
Two technological futures are competing for political and material priority: generative AI and the green transition. Benanav argues that while AI is marketed as a world-reordering breakthrough, its productivity gains…
What we can’t measure about AI – yet | Aeon Essays
The costs of transformative innovations are immediately clear: it’s the longterm gains that are hardest to understand
Deep Research, information vs. insight, and the nature of science
What AI will accelerate in the scientific process, what it cannot do, and how we can prepare for new manners of scientific investigation.
Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus
Nature - Artificial intelligence boosts individual scientists’ output, citations and career progression, but collectively narrows research diversity and reduces collaboration, concentrating...
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
Saw this metaphor by Terence Tao floating around about one of the drawbacks of using AI to solve hard math problems, and kind of have the same feeling for “vibe science” or “fully automated science” line of research in #AI4Science. theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/ai-math-te… #ScAISci
Once you understand that this is a model of science written by non-scientists who hate universities but love venture capital and redirecting money to political allies, everything makes a lot more sense. nytimes.com/2026/07/22/us/politics/trump-…
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
www.nytimes.com
