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On October 29, 2026, Ethan Mollick commented on a new working paper released by Eva Vivalt. The paper explores whether AI can predict treatment effects in economics based on preregistration documents, and concludes that it "can." Mollick points out that scholars invest enormously in writing a paper, so they often choose topics expected to yield interesting and significant results, which also pushes research in a predictable direction; AI, however, has no such investment constraint, forcing people to rethink many practices in scientific research. Currently, this view was posted by Mollick himself, and there have been no subsequent developments.
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Ethan Mollick proposes that AI forces a rethinking of how research is conducted
Source:Ethan Mollick
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Oct 29
Ethan Mollick
Mollick: AI has no constraints, so the way research is done needs rethinking
Eva Vivalt has released a new working paper exploring whether AI can predict treatment effects in economics based on pre-registration documents, and the conclusion is "yes." Ethan Mollick commented on this: scholars invest enormous effort in writing a paper, so they often choose topics expected to produce interesting and significant results, which also pushes research in a predictable direction; AI has no such constraint, forcing people to rethink many practices in scientific research.