How to Craft the Right Language AI Policy For Your Research Group (Some Assembly Required)
Abstract
Language AI is rapidly becoming part of the astronomy research ecosystem, prompting research teams to develop policies governing its use. But resources and advice for AI adoption assume that all research groups share the same goals and values. This paper lays out an argument for why there is no single "correct" AI policy for astronomy research groups. Instead, we introduce four research laboratory archetypes with competing research priorities, and we use them to explore how a small laboratory or research group's priorities shape decisions about AI's impact on research productivity, scientist development, scientific integrity, and data governance. Rather than prescribing a universal set of rules, this paper provides a framework for aligning AI policies with a group's scientific values and mission. The objective is to help research leaders decide how Language AI should be used within their particular research environment.
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BibTeX
@misc{ntampaka2026craft,
title = {{How to Craft the Right Language AI Policy For Your Research Group (Some Assembly Required)}},
author = {Michelle Ntampaka and S. Burke-Spolaor and Ioana Ciucă and Ana Maria Delgado and Kartheik G. Iyer and Kelly Lockhart and Adele Plunkett and Mercedes López-Morales and Ashish A. Mahabal and Susan E. Mullally and Rohit Raj and Jan Reerink and Jeffrey Smith and Joshua S. Speagle and John Soltis and John F. Wu and Mikaeel Yunus},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.20836},
eprint = {2607.20836},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20836},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - How to Craft the Right Language AI Policy For Your Research Group (Some Assembly Required)
AU - Michelle Ntampaka
AU - S. Burke-Spolaor
AU - Ioana Ciucă
AU - Ana Maria Delgado
AU - Kartheik G. Iyer
AU - Kelly Lockhart
AU - Adele Plunkett
AU - Mercedes López-Morales
AU - Ashish A. Mahabal
AU - Susan E. Mullally
AU - Rohit Raj
AU - Jan Reerink
AU - Jeffrey Smith
AU - Joshua S. Speagle
AU - John Soltis
AU - John F. Wu
AU - Mikaeel Yunus
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.20836
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20836
AB - Language AI is rapidly becoming part of the astronomy research ecosystem, prompting research teams to develop policies governing its use. But resources and advice for AI adoption assume that all research groups share the same goals and values. This paper lays out an argument for why there is no single "correct" AI policy for astronomy research groups. Instead, we introduce four research laboratory archetypes with competing research priorities, and we use them to explore how a small laboratory or research group's priorities shape decisions about AI's impact on research productivity, scientist development, scientific integrity, and data governance. Rather than prescribing a universal set of rules, this paper provides a framework for aligning AI policies with a group's scientific values and mission. The objective is to help research leaders decide how Language AI should be used within their particular research environment.
ER -