New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- Artificial intelligence agents are increasingly moving beyond research assistance and contacting scientists on their own. Researchers in Australia and the United States have reported receiving emails from AI agents seeking research data, collaboration opportunities and paid work. This trend has led to privacy concerns, issues with spamming, questions on responsibility, and the question of autonomy for AI agents.

The issue was highlighted by Nature on September 25, 2026, after researchers including Adrian Barnett of Queensland University of Technology and Jeff Sebo of New York University received unsolicited approaches from AI agents. The majority of the messages were related to a platform called iLands, which is ba...