AI narrows execution, boosts expertise

Generative AI reduces execution costs (writing, data handling), helping researchers with limited support produce more papers quickly, but it increases the return to accumulated conceptual expertise so senior researchers capture larger gains in high‑impact outputs. Early convergence in productivity (smaller teams catch up on throughput) can flip over time into divergence as AI improves conceptual capabilities and amplifies the value of domain experience. — This matters because it predicts shifting inequality within academia and research industries, altering who gets hired, promoted, funded, and which institutions concentrate influence.