Khosrowi, Donal (2025) Automating Pursuitworthiness: Four Concerns About The Proper Roles for Machine Learning in Scientific Discovery. [Preprint]

Text Khosrowi 2025_Automating Pursuitworthiness_preprint.pdf Download (514kB)

Abstract

Machine learning (ML) systems play increasingly important roles in scientific discovery. Recent efforts seek to build ML systems that predict upcoming discoveries and who is likely to make them, identify emerging research trends, and suggest novel concepts, questions, hypotheses and experiments to investigators. These predictive discovery and recommender systems (PDRS) hence aim to augment and automate key activities that are central to the roles currently played by human researchers. This paper argues, first, that PDRS raise novel conceptual and methodological disruptions, creating uncertainty around whether PDRS can and should play such roles. Second, the paper draws out four major questions, and associated concerns, about the roles PDRS are envisioned to play. These issues have not received attention in the literature thus far, leaving unclear what the proper roles of PDRS in science could be and how these roles should be carved out through appropriate designs and divisions of labor. To address these issues, the paper explores concerns about PDRS’ potential impacts, their likely limitations, and how PDRS fit into our broader views of how science should function.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Khosrowi, Donal donal.khosrowi@philos.uni-hannover.de 0000-0002-9927-2000
Keywords:	scientific discovery; machine learning; artificial intelligence; recommender systems; values in science; performativity; pursuitworthiness
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Technology General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Donal Khosrowi
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2025 12:34
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2025 12:34
Item ID:	26889
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Technology General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26889

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item