Paper Number

ICIS2025-1103

Paper Type

Short

Abstract

Much of Information Systems research views AI as a technological product, focusing on its back-end impacts such as generating knowledge outputs. This study redirects attention to AI’s front-end influences, exploring how the initial AI development process itself actively shapes knowledge discovery. Drawing on a 24-month longitudinal study of seven scientific teams, we observed how these development processes influence the trajectory of knowledge discovery. We reveal potential misalignments between the design logic of AI development and the scientific exploration process, showing how these tensions shape the discovery or imagination of both known and unknown knowledge. Using the metaphor of AI as a knowledge-creation engine fueled by digital data, we identify three “bearing effects” that keep the AI engine running but also expose vulnerabilities that may trigger breakdown. Reflecting on these dynamics, this study highlights AI development itself as a knowledge-shaping process that influences knowledge creation well before any AI-generated outputs.

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Dec 14th, 12:00 AM

When AI Becomes the Engine of Knowledge Creation: Can It Discover the Unknown?

Much of Information Systems research views AI as a technological product, focusing on its back-end impacts such as generating knowledge outputs. This study redirects attention to AI’s front-end influences, exploring how the initial AI development process itself actively shapes knowledge discovery. Drawing on a 24-month longitudinal study of seven scientific teams, we observed how these development processes influence the trajectory of knowledge discovery. We reveal potential misalignments between the design logic of AI development and the scientific exploration process, showing how these tensions shape the discovery or imagination of both known and unknown knowledge. Using the metaphor of AI as a knowledge-creation engine fueled by digital data, we identify three “bearing effects” that keep the AI engine running but also expose vulnerabilities that may trigger breakdown. Reflecting on these dynamics, this study highlights AI development itself as a knowledge-shaping process that influences knowledge creation well before any AI-generated outputs.

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