Quarterly research and innovation literature review: The impact of AI on R&I

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in recent years. Although the foundations of AI were established decades ago, it is only recently, with the advent of more powerful and suitable processors such as GPUs, that AI seems to be entering a ‘golden age’. The technology has experienced cycles of enthusiasm and disillusionment in the past, such as the AI winter, due to unfulfilled expectations. However, there are many signs indicating that this time could be different.

One of the main reasons for this optimism is the diverse applications of AI, particularly in research and innovation. The volume of science produced with the aid of AI is growing at a rapid pace. The promise is that AI will accelerate scientific discovery, fostering economic growth and helping to address significant societal challenges like climate change and deadly diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

At the current stage of the technology, there are remarkable discoveries being made almost on a weekly basis. Given the swift development of the technology, it is reasonable to anticipate that the rate and impact of these discoveries will accelerate in the future.

However, the deployment of this technology also poses questions and challenges for researchers and innovators. These include the risk of misuse of such a powerful technology, threats to research integrity, and the need for researchers to adapt to new tools, to name a few of the main challenges.

This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of AI applications in research and innovation from various perspectives.

Contributors: Arranz David (guest author for the introduction), Luca Bollinger, Valentina Di Girolamo, Cesar Dro, Alessio Mitra (review coordinator), Elena-Raluca Pancu, Océane Peiffer-Smadja, Julien Ravet (team leader), Jan-Tjibbe Steeman.