AI Funding Shifts Pull Social Scientists Into Firms as Trump Cuts Federal Support
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
AI Funding Shifts Pull Social Scientists Into Firms as Trump Cuts Federal Support
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
Summary
Independent social-science research on AI is weakening as federal support is cut and AI companies expand their own in-house research programs.
The opinion essay says those funding shifts are pulling many researchers out of academia and traditional institutions, risking studies that reflect AI firms’ ambitions more than the public interest.
It argues that understanding AI’s social effects requires the same kind of public-facing inquiry that industrialization once prompted across sociology, economics, psychology and related fields.
The broader warning is that without restoring independent social and behavioral research, policymakers and the public will lack reliable evidence to navigate AI-driven social upheaval.