For all the public distrust of A.I., polls show that people still hold out hope it will at least help science. But if the arrival of generative A.I. means we speed through gamified solutions without gaining insights; if the glut of plausible hypotheses makes it harder to identify valuable work; and if people are now discouraged from sharing or pursuing complex work lest they be scooped by wealthy corporations, even that one tiny ray of optimism may prove to be misplaced.

 

This Is a Rare Arena in Which People Think A.I. Is Helping. It’s Making Things Worse.

By Zeynep Tufekci

Ms. Tufekci is a contributing Opinion writer.