The Ethics of AI Use in Scientific Discovery and Communication

Abstract

This research addresses critical questions about the legitimacy of artificial intelligence (AI) in scholarly communication. As a central feature of scientific research and conduct, scholarly communication is undergoing a disruptive transformation due to AI developments, which affects it role and structure in science and in society more broadly. The determinant legitimacy of AI in this situation is especially relevant in light of related institutional dynamics and practices in terms of its alignment with the norms and values embedded in the ethos of science. While efforts are underway to develop and apply guiding principles to ensure beneficial AI use in various domains, their salience for scholarly communication requires specific consideration given that the scientific community operates as a largely self-regulating system. Accordingly, the legitimate use of AI in scientific scholarly communication is examined relative to its own internal norms and standards. This study examines how AI principles align with those embedded in the scientific ethos, offering as a significant contribution an interpretive framework that details the complex dimensions of legitimacy. AI-driven scholarly communication has the potential to significantly diminish the foundational values and principles defining the autonomy and legitimacy of the scientific enterprise.

Keywords: scholarly communication, ChatGPT, ethics, legitimacy, scientific ethos, artificial intelligence