Changes in the Structure of Collaboration Network in Artificial Intelligence by National R&D Stage

Abstract

This study attempted to investigate changes in collaboration structure for each stage of national Research and Development (R&D) in the artificial intelligence (AI) field through analysis of a co-author network for papers written under national R&D projects. For this, author information was extracted from national R&D outcomes in AI from 2014 to 2019. For such R&D outcomes, NTIS (National Science & Technology Information Service) information from the KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information) was utilized. In research collaboration in AI, power function structure, in which research efforts are led by some influential researchers, is found. In other words, less than 30 percent is linked to the largest cluster, and a segmented network pattern in which small groups are primarily developed is observed. This means a large research group with high connectivity and a small group are connected with each other, and a sporadic link is found. However, the largest cluster grew larger and denser over time, which means that as research became more intensified, new researchers joined a mainstream network, expanding a scope of collaboration. Such research intensification has expanded the scale of a collaborative researcher group and increased the number of large studies. Instead of maintaining conventional collaborative relationships, in addition, the number of new researchers has risen, forming new relationships over time.