Scilight Press

This study presents a novel exploration of how artificial intelligence (AI)—operating as a tool, assistant, and participant—can reshape the research ecosystem and drive innovative research thinking. By introducing a unified framework, we systematically examine AI’s contributions in advancing research thinking, highlighting the potential of human-AI collaboration and new research thinking paradigm. Through original case analyses such as SciAgents, Co-scientist, and AITurk, this paper illustrates how AI severs as research assistant and participant to conduct human-like behaviors in scientific research, and fosters deeper interdisciplinary cooperation. Finally, we argue that AI’s true value lies not just in efficiency gains but in augmenting human creativity and insight. Our findings advance the current understanding of AI’s multiple roles in research and underscore its capacity to revolutionize both knowledge production and collaborative methodologies, paving the way for a more integrated, impactful, and future-oriented research paradigm.