Journal of Intelligent Strategic Management

Journal of Intelligent Strategic Management

From Traditional Scientific Collaboration to Intelligent Knowledge Alliances: A Genealogical Study of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in International Academic Relations

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Mohammad‌ Hossein Hajiloo
Faculty member, Department of Political Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
10.87453/bumara.2026.373601.0189
Abstract
The international scientific collaboration system, which for decades has been grounded in mechanisms such as faculty and student exchange, formal research consortia, and co-authorship networks, is currently undergoing a profound discursive transformation. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence, autonomous research agents, and algorithmic matchmaking platforms has given rise to a new configuration of scientific collaboration, conceptualized in this study as "Intelligent Knowledge Alliances." Drawing upon a Foucauldian genealogical approach, this research does not seek to construct a linear narrative of technological "progress." Instead, it aims to uncover the discontinuities, regimes of truth, and emerging power–knowledge relations that underpin this transition.
Based on documentary analysis and a systematic review of recent bibliometric and policy evidence published between 2024 and 2026, the findings indicate that AI-driven scientific collaboration has been accompanied by significant increases in research team size, the density of international collaboration networks, and the proliferation of algorithmic matching platforms. Simultaneously, however, the global digital divide, the geopolitics of computational resources, and newly emerging challenges surrounding authorship validation have imposed a new discursive order on international academic relations. By proposing a four-stage genealogical framework that traces the evolution from traditional analog collaboration to distributed cognitive alliances, and supported by a series of analytical tables, this article argues that what initially appears to be merely a facilitative technological instrument, in practice reconstructs a new regime of knowledge visibility, classification, and validation. This emerging regime carries profound strategic implications for universities and science policymakers in developing countries, including Iran.
Keywords
Artificial intelligence
international scientific collaboration
Foucauldian genealogy
intelligent knowledge alliances
science diplomacy
digital knowledge divide
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Journal of Intelligent Strategic Management
Volume 3, Issue 3 - Serial Number 7
Autumn 2024
Pages 219-247