Recently, the collaborative paper titled "The Mystery of Knowledge Generation: Empirical Evidence from AI Patent Texts and Citation Data" by Professor Yu Miaojie (President of Liaoning University), Professor Dong Zhiqing (School of Management, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics), and Zhang Xiao (Ph.D. student, School of Economics and Management, East China Normal University) was published in Issue 3, 2026 of China Economic Quarterly.
Paper Abstract
Artificial intelligence-generated knowledge is prone to "hallucinations," and the academic community has yet to clearly identify the role AI plays behind innovation. This paper utilizes patent text and citation data to explore the impact of AI on knowledge generation, compare the applicable scenarios of predictive and generative AI, and analyze their roles in knowledge application and activating "dormant knowledge." The research shows that AI not only facilitates the generation of new knowledge through knowledge recombination and the elimination of old knowledge, but also stimulates subsequent innovation through knowledge extension and expansion, thereby enhancing knowledge novelty and impact. However, the effectiveness of AI is constrained by the firm's knowledge linkage structure. When a firm is distanced from external knowledge and occupies a peripheral position in the knowledge network, AI's role in knowledge generation tends to be limited. In environments where knowledge fields are relatively concentrated and core knowledge is highly consistent, predictive AI is more effective in driving knowledge innovation, whereas generative AI applies to opposite scenarios. Furthermore, AI facilitates knowledge integration and generalization, shortens the knowledge application cycle, and awakens "dormant knowledge" with innovative potential.
Journal Introduction
China Economic Quarterly was first published in 2001. It is a comprehensive economics journal sponsored by the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University and published by Peking University Press. The journal is committed to publishing high-quality articles that employ internationally standardized methods to study indigenous Chinese economic phenomena. It aims to provide a high-level publication platform for Chinese economists, a focal point for intellectual exchange within the Chinese economics community, and a bridge to introduce Chinese economics to the world.
Authors Profile:
Yu Miaojie serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Liaoning University. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the Royal Economic Society (FREcon), a Fellow of the International Economic Association of the United Nations, a Distinguished Professor of the Changjiang Scholar Program, and a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. He serves as a Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and a Special Supervisor of the National Commission of Supervision. He is an Associate Editor of The Economic Journal, a top international journal in economics. He is recognized as a globally top 1% highly cited economist in economics and management, and to date, remains the only Chinese scholar to have won the "Royal Economic Society Prize." He is the Editor-in-Chief of China's Open Economy, a key original textbook in Chinese philosophy and social sciences, and benefits from the State Council Special Government Allowance.
Dong Zhiqing is a Professor at the School of Management, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics. He has been selected for the Shanghai "Dawn Plan" Talent Program and the Shanghai Leading Talent Reserve Team Program. He formerly served as a Professor in the Faculty of Economics and Management at East China Normal University and a Professor at the Business School of Jilin University. His research focuses on the econometric evaluation of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence technologies. He has published over 150 papers in prestigious Chinese and international journals such asSocial Sciences in China,Economic Research Journal,Management World,China Economic Quarterly, andTechnology Forecast & Social Change, with more than 30 of his papers being reprinted or digested by publications includingXinhua Digest,China Social Science Digest,Guangming Daily, and Renmin University of China's photocopied materials. He has led 9 projects funded by the National Social Science Fund and 4 projects funded by the Ministry of Education's Humanities and Social Sciences Fund. He has received over ten awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award in Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, the First Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Philosophy and Social Sciences from the Shanghai Municipality, and the Fifth Zhang Peigang Award for Outstanding Achievements in Development Economics.
Zhang Xiao is a Ph.D. student at the School of Economics and Management, East China Normal University, conducting research in the field of technological innovation. His research findings have been published in journals such as China Economic Quarterly and The Journal of World Economy. He has received the First Prize for Outstanding Paper Achievement in Social Sciences from Jilin Province.
