A guide to the nature index
A Natural Supplement to Nature Index and the Growth of Artificial Intelligence Research in the United States and Other Countries: Counts, Shares, Linkages, and Collaborations
A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality that is available free online at natureindex.com.
The Nature Index uses Count and Share to track research output. Each article that has at least one author from that country/territory is given a Count of 1 for that country. This is the case no matter how many authors an article has, and it means that the same article can make a difference to the Count of multiple countries.
Adjusted Share accounts for the small annual variation in the total number of articles in the Nature Index journals. It is arrived at by calculating the percentage difference in the total number of articles in the Index in a given year relative to the number of articles in a base year and adjusting Share values to the base year levels.
The bilateral collaboration score (CS) between two institutions A+B is the sum of each of their Shares on the papers to which both have contributed. A bilateral collaboration can be between any two institutions or countries/territories co-authoring at least one article in the journals tracked by the Nature Index.
Each query will return a profile page that lists the country or institution’s recent outputs, from which it is possible to drill down for more information. Articles can be displayed by journal, and then by article. The outputs are organized into areas. The pages list the institution or country’s/territory’s top collaborators, as well as its relationship with other organizations. There is a way to track the performance of an institution over time.
The United States, leading country for artificial intelligence research, saw its corporate research output more than double from 51.8 to 106.5 in a single year. The percentage of total Artificial Intelligence Share in the United States last year is just 3.8%, which indicates that companies may be either publishing the majority of their research elsewhere or keeping it under wraps. It is concerning that the global south, where artificial intelligence could help speed up development, is under represented. South Africa is the only African country in the top 40 nations for artificial intelligence output. Although Nature Index journals represent a fraction of AI research, finding ways to redress these imbalances is essential to ensure that this revolution benefits everyone.
It has been over two years since the last Nature Index looked at the research data on artificial intelligence, but its growth is showing that it is an important component of the technological revolution of our time. The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 was a watershed moment, immediately raising questions about how large language models (LLMs) would transform society, especially the world of work.
Research is just one area scrambling to understand the potential impact of AI technologies. Some pressing issues it faces, such as how artificial intelligence should be used to evaluate studies and researchers, are the subject of this supplement. There are major questions about the role of academia in the world of artificial intelligence and how it will be used, especially given that there is a commercial interest in keeping research and data secret. Big tech’s grip on AI is vexing governments, too, as shown by the impact that lobbyists are having on emerging consumer regulation.
