This week's assorted links cover topics ranging from AI-driven academic research to China's regulation of AI companions.

1. AI-Authored Research Papers

A project demonstrated the process of writing a research paper in six days using only AI tools, documenting the entire process and then producing a second paper about the experience of writing the first. The experiment comes at a time when academic journals and research institutions are actively debating policies around AI-assisted authorship, with major publishers requiring disclosure of AI tool use and some prohibiting AI as a credited author. The full documentation is available at disembedded.com.

2. The Future of Medicine

Saloni discusses the future of medicine in an essay published by Works in Progress, arguing that "Every disease is a policy failure." The piece explores how policy decisions shape health outcomes — a framework that places governance choices, from drug approval pathways to public health infrastructure investment, at the center of medical progress. Read the full article at Works in Progress.

3. John List on Generalizability

Economist John List, known for his pioneering work in field experiments, discusses the critical topic of generalizability in economic research — the question of whether findings from specific studies can be applied more broadly. The topic has gained renewed urgency amid the social science replication crisis, which has prompted researchers across disciplines to re-examine how robust and transportable experimental results actually are. His paper is available at RePEc. Additional commentary from List can be found in this X post.

4. China Regulates AI Companions

China has begun regulating AI companion applications, a rapidly growing sector in the country's technology landscape. The move extends China's already proactive approach to AI governance, which has included some of the world's earliest binding rules on generative AI services and algorithmic recommendation systems. Companies such as ByteDance, which operates the Doubao AI chatbot, are affected by the new regulatory measures. Rest of World reports on the development here.

5. Fewer Phones, More Fighting?

A report from Tulsa Public Schools explores the relationship between reduced phone access in schools and changes in student behavior, including incidents of physical altercations. The findings contribute to a widening national conversation, as school districts across the United States increasingly adopt phone restriction policies — with educators and policymakers closely watching how such interventions affect classroom dynamics and student well-being. The story is covered by Tulsa Flyer.