Science1 hOctober 21, 2026, 22:10

Study: AI obsession is starving the research it needs to advance

A new paper analyzed 7.18 million OpenAlex computer science papers from 1990–2025, 3.7 million researcher field switches and 73,089 peer reviews. More than half of 918,862 field switches went into AI, eroding scientific diversity and the serendipity behind future breakthroughs.

Unite.AI

Open source

Study: AI obsession is starving the research it needs to advance

7.18 million OpenAlex CS papers from 1990–2025 analyzed
Over half of 918,862 field switches moved into AI
Systems and theory research steadily lose researchers
Authors warn of declining idea diversity and slower breakthroughs

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Study: AI obsession is starving the research it needs to advance

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