Science editorial on "Indigenous Science and AI" sparks backlash; Kevin Bryan's eight rules to rebuild trust

Afinetheorem · x · 2026-11-10

Economist Kevin A. Bryan published "Eight Rules to Regain Public Trust in Academia," responding to controversy over editorials in Science/NEJM:

The trigger: a Science piece arguing AI models are trained on "Western scientific datasets" with single-dimension knowledge framing, and that Lakota science comprises "matter, energy, relationality, and a unifying life force" where reductionist Western science has limited application. Researchers like Afinetheorem argue such editorials damage public perception of science.
Bryan's core rules: (1) produce and teach useful knowledge; (2) be useful to all of society with epistemic humility; (3) attract talent from all backgrounds, no insider games; (4) research must be neutral and objective — "there is no 'Western science' or culturally-determined 'ways of knowing'"; (5+) hire, promote and cite based on knowledge (screenshots cut off at rule 4).
The clash is essentially cultural relativism vs. universalism in science, now colliding with AI discourse.

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