AI-Augmented Research: Free to Write, Costly to Read

Wolfgang Kuhle

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: We study a model in which artificial intelligence lowers the cost of writing faster than the cost of reading. Authors differ in reputation, and time-constrained readers, such as referees, choose between ignoring, verifying, and trusting papers. As writing costs fall, the band of verified papers shrinks: outsiders are no longer read, and established authors are no longer checked. In the ``costless writing limit,'' the share of verified papers vanishes, and a paper's impact depends on its author's reputation alone. Readers can escape the flood by asking AI to summarize the literature. These summaries aggregate papers reliably only if their errors are sufficiently independent. Once the share of papers written with the same AI exceeds a threshold, summaries inherit the AI's errors, and AI review filters out the original research that could correct them.

Date: 2026-10
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