A STUDY OF INDUSTRY INFLUENCE IN THE FIELD OF AI RESEARCH

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how AI researchers, situated within university-based research networks, mobilise and resist industry interests. The research question to which this paper is addressed is: how do university-based academics in the field of AI experience and mediate industry influence in their research? We answer this question through semi-structured interviews with research-focused academics (n = 90) affiliated with university-based AI research networks. We find that national research funders and university leadership incentivise and facilitate industry investments in AI research. We demonstrate how AI researchers mobilise this interest to pursue their own research goals, whilst also—at times—subordinating their research goals to the interests of industry. We highlight how AI researchers internalise the commercial logics of technology firms, which become mirrored in researchers' orientation towards generalisable and scalable research outputs that can move between many application domains and local contexts. We argue that university-based AI research networks primarily operate as mediators between industry, government, and university actors, and highlight the role national research investment strategies play in creating an enabling environment for industry influence of AI research.