Remember the time when hearing about a new scientific breakthrough felt special?

Now it feels like there is a new breakthrough in science every other day. You may assume that all of this is thanks to the progress and developments in AI that help fuel more scientific breakthroughs, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But the answer to this issue is quite complicated.

‘Fast science’ is a term used to describe scientists ‘racing’ to publish their findings as quickly as possible. Think of it like doing all of your homework, but instead of checking your answers to make sure they are correct, you just move on to the next question and try to complete everything as fast as possible. Scientists often publish early versions of their papers before other experts in the field have a chance to review them and vet their accuracy.

In 2022, researchers looked at how newspapers covered COVID-19 studies which were not peer reviewed. They found out that many news outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian often left out important details regarding the ‘discoveries’ they were discussing, leaving readers unaware that what they were reading was unverified. 

Fast science can also cost a lot of money, and tense competition often leads to low quality rushed results. Economists Ryan Hill and Carolyn Stein estimate that between $1.5 and $8.8 billion is lost globally to rushed research.

While fast science can speed up discoveries, it often results in lost money and misleading headlines.