New Commentary on the creeping normality of AI use out in Front. Ecol. Environ.

Jarić, I., Pipek, P., Canavan, S., Firth, J.A., Bertram, M.G. 2026. The creeping normality of AI in the life sciences. Front. Ecol. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.70059

BACKGROUND

Over the past decade, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly embedded in the everyday work of researchers across the life sciences, particularly in the form of large language models (LLMs), driving gradual, often imperceptible, but nevertheless transformative changes in how research is performed. In many ways, the changes brought about by LLMs match the concept of “creeping normality”— that is, a process by which a major change can be normalized and perceived as acceptable if it happens gradually through small, often subtle increments. Here, we highlight how LLMs are gradually but substantially reconfiguring thinking, collaborations, skill sets, training, expertise, and norms in the life sciences over time (Table 1).