{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T14:47:41Z","timestamp":1778078861572,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["AIES"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into social\nscience research practices raises significant\ntechnological, methodological, and ethical issues. We\npresent a community-centric study drawing on 284 survey\nresponses and 15 semi-structured interviews with social\nscientists, describing their familiarity with, perceptions\nof the usefulness of, and ethical concerns about the use of\nAI in their field. A crucial innovation in study design is\nto split our survey sample in half, providing the same\nquestions to each -- but randomizing whether participants\nwere asked about \"AI\" or \"Machine Learning\" (ML). We find\nthat the use of AI in research settings has increased\nsignificantly among social scientists in step with the\nwidespread popularity of generative AI (genAI). These tools\nhave been used for a range of tasks, from summarizing\nliterature reviews to drafting research papers. Some\nrespondents used these tools out of curiosity but were\ndissatisfied with the results, while others have now\nintegrated them into their typical workflows. Participants,\nhowever, also reported concerns with the use of AI in\nresearch contexts. This is a departure from more\ntraditional ML algorithms which they view as statistically\ngrounded. Participants express greater trust in ML, citing\nits relative transparency compared to black-box genAI\nsystems. Ethical concerns, particularly around automation\nbias, deskilling, research misconduct, complex\ninterpretability, and representational harm, are raised in\nrelation to genAI. We situate these findings within broader\nsociotechnical debates, arguing that responsible\nintegration of AI in social science research requires more\nthan technical solutions: it demands a rethinking of\nresearch values, human-centered design, and institutional\nsupport structures. To guide this transition, we offer\nrecommendations for AI developers, researchers, educators,\nand policymakers focusing on explainability, transparency,\nethical safeguards, sustainability, and the integration of\nlived experiences into AI design and evaluation processes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1609\/aies.v8i1.36568","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T13:14:35Z","timestamp":1760534075000},"page":"528-540","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Social Scientists on the Role of AI in Research"],"prefix":"10.1609","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Tatiana","family":"Chakravorti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinyu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pranav Narayanan","family":"Venkit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sai","family":"Koneru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"Munger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Rajtmajer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"9382","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"container-title":["Proceedings of the AAAI\/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/download\/36568\/38706","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/download\/36568\/38706","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T13:14:36Z","timestamp":1760534076000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/view\/36568"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1609\/aies.v8i1.36568","relation":{},"ISSN":["3065-8365"],"issn-type":[{"value":"3065-8365","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]}}}