Stanford HAI leaders urge keeping people central to AI-driven research

Stanford HAI associate directors Risa Wechsler and Russ Altman, speaking at a Stanford orientation, argued that AI agents can deepen scientific research but must be paired with interdisciplinary collaboration. They stressed rigorous, reproducible methods and clearly measured uncertainty, since convincing AI answers are not enough. They also said labs must weigh agent costs and preserve mentorship so that automation supports human participation in research.