MIT has formally disavowed a widely discussed economics paper on artificial intelligence, citing serious concerns over the integrity and reliability of its findings. The paper, “Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation,” authored by now-former doctoral student Aidan Toner-Rodgers, claimed that AI tools boosted material discoveries and patent output in a major science lab—while simultaneously reducing researchers’ job satisfaction.
Initially praised by prominent MIT economists and Nobel laureates Daron Acemoglu and David Autor, the paper had gained significant attention across academic and tech circles. However, both economists have now issued a joint statement retracting their support, saying they have “no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and in the veracity of the research.”
- In January, a computer scientist familiar with materials science raised red flags about the study’s methodology and data.
- The issue was escalated to MIT, prompting an internal review.
- MIT has not disclosed the results of the review, citing student privacy laws, but confirmed that the author is “no longer at MIT.”
Paper to Be Pulled from Journals
- MIT has requested withdrawal of the paper from The Quarterly Journal of Economics and preprint server arXiv.
- However, because only authors can initiate withdrawal on arXiv, and Toner-Rodgers hasn’t done so, the paper remains online—at least for now.
The incident raises important questions about AI research ethics, academic oversight, and the influence of high-profile endorsements in rapidly evolving fields. It also underlines how even celebrated work can unravel under scrutiny—especially when claims intersect with commercial and scientific hype around AI.
Source: (Techcrunch)
