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Paper short abstract

Social realities of genAI are co-constructed by science governance actors. Based on results from an expert study on changes in qualification and implications for sovereignty, we reflect on the role the actors have for the co-construction of present and emerging social realities and their adoption.

Paper long abstract

The role of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) in science has been covered from the perspective of shifts in the system (Fecher et al. 2023), with regard to knowledge production (Messeri & Crocket 2024) as well as has been critiqued strongly (Kenney & Lincoln 2025). It shows, that social realities in research change profoundly while being co-constructed by different actors. This entails the representations it has for science governance actors for practices assuring adoption and accommodation of genAI.

This contribution presents findings from a qualitative study focusing on the role of genAI in research in general with regard to changes in qualifications and research sovereignty. Expert interviews were conducted with ten international science actors (including funding bodies, publishing entities, research associations) from April to June 2025. The research presented is part of the “Leibniz WissenschaftsCampus – Digital Transformation of Research“ (DiTraRe). Results show that science governance actors already deal with changing social realities in research. With regard to qualification, scientific knowledge creation gets modified by gen AI implying up- and deskilling processes alike. Further, in order to keep sovereignty in research, actors cope with specific risks of genAI, e.g. epistemic risks or risks of misuse and develop guidelines on genAI use.

Related to question 2 from the call it is argued that science governance actors co-construct present and future realities of genAI as they represent how change through gen AI is accommodated, how it may be adopted by scientists and lastly how adapted social realities for research are imagined and shaped.