We will need more (not fewer) scientists
This article explores the evolving role of scientists in an era of increasingly capable AI co-scientists. It argues that rather than displacing human labor, the expansion of the scientific frontier will likely require more human scientists to manage and interpret the vast new space for exploration.
Why it matters
The debate over AI in research is central to the future of innovation and the structure of the global scientific workforce.
AI co-scientists are getting good at precisely the labor we trained to do. But the pursuit of knowledge is not a zero-sum game. Instead, as the scientific frontier expands, the vast space to explore explodes faster than any fleet of agents can fill it.
Labor displacement concerns with new technology are neither new nor entirely unfounded. The Luddites, pegged by history as railing against new machinery, were in essence a labor movement 1 . Telephone switchboard operators dwindled rapidly following electromechanical switching investments 2 . In a recent essay, Bill Gates called for policy intervention to stem the wholesale move from human labor to machines: " AI will take on work in law, customer service, medicine, software, and manufacturing… There will be some new jobs, but without the right policies, there will be far fewer than exist today. " 3
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