Mathematicians are developing rules for AI use — other fields should follow

You have full access to this article via your institution. The city of Leiden in the Netherlands is gaining a reputation for hosting meetings on integrity in science. Credit: Getty A little more than a decade ago, after a 2014 conference at Leiden University in the Netherlands, researchers published the Leiden Manifesto in Nature . It called for the responsible use of metrics in research and included a set of ten principles to help to ensure rigour and fairness in the evaluation of research 1 . Along with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) , the Leiden principles have been adopted around the world. How AI is reshaping discovery in maths and physics The principles came about in response to a suite of metrics data and innovative computational tools in universities and science that required guardrails for their use. Last September, the city of Leiden and its university reprised their part as a meeting point for scholars concerned about new technologies and the integrity of science — this time, about the role of artificial intelligence in mathematics . The resulting Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics , published earlier this month 2 , shares some of the concerns of its namesake. It recognizes the power and potential of a transformative technology while urging researchers and institutions to ensure that human judgement, transparency and fairness are protected — principles that are foundational to science and must remain so. …