{"id":108113,"date":"2025-09-08T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.science\/?post_type=publications&#038;p=108113"},"modified":"2025-10-07T10:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:42:14","slug":"types-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"publications","link":"https:\/\/council.science\/publications\/types-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Types of AI and their use in science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f9f9f9\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>The paper is part of a series of three primers that explore various technical dimensions of AI and its impact on science:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Types-of-AI-and-their-use-in-science-2.pdf\">Types of AI in science<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/council.science\/publications\/environmental-impact-of-ai-in-science\/\">Considerations on the environmental impact of AI in science<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/council.science\/publications\/data-and-ai-for-science\/\">Data for AI in science<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:73px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The paper examines how AI is contributing to the research process itself and provides some contextualized examples that illustrate applications of the techniques described. The paper aims to inform the rich debate within the science and science policy community by clarifying some of the concepts and techniques encompassed within the term \u2018AI\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the scientific enterprise beyond computational assistance: AI is contributing to hypothesis generation and extending traditional methods of theory and experimentation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI is not a monolithic technology, but encompasses a constellation of paradigms, each defined by distinct approaches to learning, inference or knowledge generation with different applications in the scientific context.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A multitude of different AI techniques address descriptive, predictive, generative and optimization challenges within science.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI has found applications in research on medicine, climate science, genomics, social science and more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The reliance of AI on data means that computer science, mathematics and statistics intersect with social issues, including ethical questions and integrity of research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Types-of-AI-and-their-use-in-science-2.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"634\" height=\"897\" src=\"https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-108194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image.png 634w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-71x100.png 71w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-141x200.png 141w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-600x849.png 600w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-256x362.png 256w, https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/image-383x542.png 383w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<p><strong>Types of AI and their use in science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>September 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DOI: 10.24948\/2025.09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/council.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Types-of-AI-and-their-use-in-science-2.pdf\" data-content=\"Download\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This paper provides an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) from the perspective of its use in science, although the techniques described have broad applications in many contexts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":108193,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[293],"publication-committee":[],"region":[],"publication-type":[],"tag":[],"class_list":["post-108113","publications","type-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-artificial-intelligence"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Types of AI and their use in science - 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