MIT has formally repudiated an AI research paper by a former economics doctoral student that claimed productivity benefits of artificial intelligence, citing data integrity concerns on 17 May 2025.
The paper titled "Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation," written by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, was initially praised by prominent MIT economists, including 2024 Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu and David Autor. The study claimed that introducing an AI tool in a materials science laboratory significantly increased new material discoveries and patent filings, albeit reducing researchers' job satisfaction. In January 2025, a computer scientist raised serious concerns about the research's reliability, prompting an internal review that concluded with MIT stating it has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper.
MIT cited privacy laws in not disclosing the exact findings of the review but confirmed that Toner-Rodgers is no longer at MIT and requested the paper's withdrawal from both the prestigious Quarterly Journal of Economics, where it was submitted for publication, and the arXiv preprint website. Economist David Autor commented on the situation to the Wall Street Journal, saying: More than just embarrassing, it's heartbreaking – highlighting the gravity of the situation and the reputational consequences for MIT.
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