A Role for AI in Peer Review

The idea of education as an institution rests upon the premise of information and an increasing body of knowledge. Progress relies upon this idea requiring that novel information is added as new discoveries are made. Documenting ongoing research is part of the information economy that upholds this process. Publishers are a key element in the effort to maintain a systematic process of documenting peer-reviewed research results. Various organizations, such as Bentham Science publishing, produce thousands of journals designed for just this purpose.

The Role of Peer Review

Peer review is a fundamental activity that, in part, determines the specific information that gets included in journals. This time-tested process, while flawed, has been a cornerstone of modern progress. One dilemma inherent to peer review is the degree to which specialization has resulted in a pyramid-shaped hierarchy of qualified reviewers. Publishers, like Bentham science, may lack an adequately qualified pool of reviewers to assess new research in a timely fashion. One possible remedy is to employ artificial intelligence as a channel in the process.

AI and Peer Review

A true divide exists among academics about the utilization of AI in peer review. Advocates see this technology as the answer to the bottleneck in information flow. Those opposing AI in peer review express concerns about unintended bias and repercussions from removing human oversight. AI experts, meanwhile, are themselves at odds and point to the reality of AI’s limitations and uncertainty about its readiness for the task. Ironically, research in the field of artificial intelligence itself may hold the answer.

Collective human knowledge is growing at a near exponential rate reflected by the flood of research work publications. An unavoidable risk is that some combination of truly novel and valuable information may already exist and is being overlooked. Developing a useful approach to accurate and timely research review is sorely needed. Employing AI’s perfect memory and high-speed processing strengths may one day find and unlock information that will dramatically alter the course of human history.