𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞 𝐂-𝟑𝐏𝐎—𝐈 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭!

Research Roundup

AI for Scientists but Not for Science

AI for science is a huge new field. (I should know, I’m working on it.) But is it possible that AI can supercharge individual scientists even as it slows science? A massive new analysis of 41 million research papers says, “Well, shit…yes.”

While scientists using AI are undeniably successful—publishing 3x more papers, receiving nearly 5x more citations, and becoming project leaders 1.37 years earlier—their reliance on these tools is causing the collective scope of science to shrink. AI-augmented research is narrowing by 4.63%, gravitating toward data-rich, established fields rather than risking the unknown.

AI servants lift scientists even as it sinks science. If we use AI merely as a servant to automate our habits, we fall into the Exploitation Trap: we mine the same ground faster, but we stop looking for new mines.

In a world of delegators, centaurs, and cyborgs, the scientists above are centaurs, using AI to make their work more efficient, but not to directly augment their own cognition. At least these scientists aren’t delegators(“Robot, experience this tragic irony for me!”), but we should be asking so much more of our AI and ourselves than zero-sum science.

Once Again for the Cheap Seats

Read “How AI Impacts Skill Formation”:

"AI use impairs conceptual understanding... without delivering significant efficiency gains."

I’m sharing this paper again because the industry is still in denial. If you use AI to replace the struggle of learning, you are optimizing for your own obsolescence.

The researchers found that Delegators (who let the AI write the code) finished fast but learned nothing. Conceptual Inquirers (who asked the AI to explain why) maintained their skills. (Better still: the Cyborgs and Mentats from my upcoming study!)

Productivity is not a shortcut to competence. Don't let the tool hollow you out.

My admiration again to Anthropic for having the guts to release this report.

Educated Illiteracy

We assume that "AI Literacy" protects us from the risks of automation. Ignore for the moment that I have no idea what “AI literacy” is supposed to mean in practice, a new study suggests the exact opposite.

When people used AI while working on LSAT logic problems, “their task performance improved by 3 points”, but it simultaneously eroded the users' self-awareness. Participants overestimated their own accuracy by more than twice the actual benefit.

Worse for every armchair policy wonk I’ve heard promote “AI literacy” over the last decade, Higher AI literacy was linked to lower metacognitive accuracy.

The people who knew the most about the technology were the most confident and the least precise in judging their own work. The AI didn't just automate the logic; it automated the feeling of competence, making everyone feel like a genius.

Centaurs always did think they were sexier than they actually are.

Media Mentions

Check out my conversation with the People Managing People podcast. It's full of great stuff!

SciFi, Fantasy, & Me

Anti-Recommendation: The High-Budget Slop

I have a strict rule for SciFriday: I promote the good, the unusual, and the mind-bending. I don’t punch down. But today, I’m punching up.

I recently endured Tron: Ares and The Fountain of Youth as in-flight entertainment. I wasn't expecting high art—maybe just some "turn-your-brain-off" fun. Instead, I got a lobotomy.

Both films are excruciating case studies in the worst "Hollywood" stereotype: massive budgets spent entirely on pixels, with zero left over for a script, a character, or a coherent thought. They are nothing but digital noise and hollow set pieces—the cinematic equivalent of AI slop.

The streaming age has proven we can tell brilliant, small-scale stories. These two are the counter-argument: proof that infinite processing power cannot simulate a screenplay with a soul.

The Verdict: Do not watch them. Stare at the seatback pocket in front of you instead; it has more narrative depth.

Stage & Screen

• March 4, Basel: I'll be giving a keynote at the Health.Tech Global Conference 2026: "Robot-Proof: How Human Agency Drives Hybrid Intelligence & Discovery"
• March 8, LA: I'll be at UCLA talking about AI and teen mental health at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
• March 12, Santa Barbara: Economic development on the Central Coast.
• March 14, Online: The book launch! Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All The Answers, Build Better People is will finally be inflicted on the world.
• Boston, NYC, DC, & Everywhere Along the Acela line: We're putting together a book tour for you! Stay tuned...
• Late March/Early April, UK & EU: Book Tour!
  • March 30, Amsterdam: What else: AI and human I--together is better!
  • plus London, Zurich, Basel, Copenhagen, and many other cities in development.
• April 14, Seattle: Ill be keynoting at the AACSB Business School Conference.
• May 12, Online: I'll be reading from Robot-Proof for the The Library Speakers Consortium.
• June, Stockholm: The Smartest Thing on the Planet: Hybrid Collective Intelligence
• October, Toronto: The Future of Work...in the Future

Vivienne L'Ecuyer Ming