
Science is entering a structural saturation era. As artificial intelligence increasingly automates the production of scientific outputs, the traditional value of publications as the primary unit of science is being fundamentally challenged. This paper proposes that the next evolution of science may not concern new discoveries, but a transformation in how knowledge itself is understood. From knowledge as accumulated structure to knowledge as sustained generativity. This work introduces the concept of Generative Science as a possible foundation for post-AI scientific civilization. Highlights • Proposes a new scientific paradigm: Generative Science, shifting the focus from publications to generative research trajectories. • Introduces a UPCT-based reinterpretation of scientific activity as a generative cycle (Φ → G → S → Φ′). • Explains why AI development may reduce the epistemic value of structural knowledge production while increasing the importance of generativity. • Identifies open repositories such as Zenodo as early infrastructure for process-based science. • Suggests that the next scientific revolution may be ontological: redefining knowledge from structure to generative participation. Overview Modern science has been built upon the stabilization of knowledge into structured outputs such as journal publications. This structural paradigm enabled cumulative progress, reproducibility, and institutional validation. However, it also created a hidden constraint: the generative processes that produce scientific insight have become largely invisible within evaluation systems focused on finalized outputs. This paper argues that science may now be approaching a structural saturation point. As artificial intelligence increasingly automates structural research functions—paper writing, literature review, and evaluation—the scarcity that once justified structural metrics is disappearing. As a result, the true differentiator of scientific contribution may shift toward generative capacity. Using the Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT), scientific activity is reinterpreted as a generative cycle: Φ → G → S → Φ′ where Φ represents generative potential, G relational interaction, and S structural stabilization. Within this framework, modern publication systems may be understood as structural optimization systems that risk suppressing generative exploration when overemphasized. This work proposes the concept of Generative Science as a complementary paradigm to structural science. In this model, scientific value increasingly lies in sustaining knowledge evolution rather than merely producing stabilized outputs. Open research infrastructures such as Zenodo and arXiv are interpreted as early manifestations of this transition, enabling research to be recorded as evolving trajectories rather than isolated products. The paper concludes that the next transformation of science may not be technological but ontological: a shift from viewing knowledge as accumulated structure toward understanding knowledge as sustained generative participation. Such a transition may redefine the identity of the researcher, the meaning of expertise, and the future architecture of scientific institutions. Author’s Related Works UPCT Foundational Theoretical Works Ohumi, K. (2026). Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT): A Generative Relational Ontology of Existence, Stability, and Emergence.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19065461 Ohumi, K. (2026). Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT): A Unified Generative Theory of Time, Life, and Civilization.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18653237 Ohumi, K. (2026). Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT) Phase I: A Unified Resolution of Quantum Paradoxes via Temporal Sampling.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18230537 Ohumi, K. (2026). Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT) Phase II: A Phase Transition Law for Generative Systems under Measurement Optimization.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18408708 Ohumi, K. (2026). Universal Phase-Crystallization Theory (UPCT) I: Generative Time and Relational Space.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18979001 Ohumi, K. (2026). From Machine Civilization to Generative Civilization: Universal Phase-Crystallization Theory and the Generative Structure of Reality.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18935934 Ohumi, K. (2026). UPCT Existential Core: A Generative Ontology for Post-Functional Civilization. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19146516 UPCT Ontology and Civilizational Philosophy Ohumi, K. (2026). Existence as Generativity: Desire, Structure, and the Dynamics of Civilizational Transition in Universal Phase Crystallization Theory. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19198157 Ohumi, K. (2026). From Having to Being: Toward a Generativity-Centered Ontology in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18829129 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Declaration of Life-OS: An Ontological Turn Toward a Generative Civilizational Spiral.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18645582 Ohumi, K. (2026). From Proof to Resonance: A Φ-Ontology of Existence, Labor, Education, and Economic Life.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18515955 Ohumi, K. (2026). Returning to the Source of Philosophy: Affirmation of Life as the Life-OS and a Radical Point of Departure.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18529485 Ohumi, K. (2026). Dialectics as a Relational Logic of Life: From Linear Ascent to Spiral Circulation.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18522371 Ohumi, K. (2026). Does Color Exist? Overcoming the Ontological-Epistemological Confusion Through Generative Phase Transition: An Application of Universal Phase Crystallization Theory (UPCT). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19105125 Ohumi, K. (2026). From Color to Sound: Human Cognitive Limits Between Ontology and epistemology and the Generative Resolution of UPCT. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19110346 Ohumi, K. (2026). Toward a Generative Theory of Human Motivation: Participation, Existence, and the Fundamental Drive. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19286911 Ohumi, K. (2026). What is Desire? The Transition from the "Machine OS" to the "Life OS" in the History of Human Thought. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19327281 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Ontology of Resonance Beyond Generative Supremacy: The First Principle of "Existence = Generation = Resonance" and the Mandalic Hierarchy of the Life OS. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19334259 UPCT Science and Physics Foundations Ohumi, K. (2025). A Sampling-Theoretic Reinterpretation of Quantum Uncertainty and Wave Function Collapse.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18004579 Ohumi, K. (2025). Observation as Operational Crystallization: Resolving Quantum Paradoxes.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18220191 Ohumi, K. (2025). Dark Energy as a Diffusive Phase of a Relational Universe.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18081786 Ohumi, K. (2025). It from Wave: Phase Propagation as Physical Basis of Information.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18256968 Ohumi, K. (2025). Ontological Reconstruction of Quasi-Particles.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18140041 Ohumi, K. (2025). Envelopment over Unification: Recovering Einstein’s Dream.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18244683 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Ten Unresolved Problems of Modern Physics Reinterpreted Through UPCT Toward a Generative Ontology of Physical Reality. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19243422 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Generative Origin of Time A UPCT Resolution of the Problem of Time. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19360863 UPCT Economics, Governance, and Society Ohumi, K. (2026). Foundational Principles of Resonance Economics.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18500861 Ohumi, K. (2025). The WGS Model: The Implementation of Generative Governance.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18308450 Ohumi, K. (2025). Resonant Management.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18162380 Ohumi, K. (2025). Resonant Politics.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18180888 Ohumi, K. (2025). The KPI Trap: Over-Optimization and Meaning Collapse.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18264106 UPCT Civilization and Crisis Analysis Ohumi, K. (2026). Civilization After the Loss of Foundations.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18722641 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Zeno Civilization: Financial Markets, Algorithmic Saturation, and the Φ–G–S Spiral of Value.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18862821 Ohumi, K. (2026). Population Decline as Ontological Consequence.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18801947 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Φ-Depletion Society.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18900778 Ohumi, K. (2026). At the Crossroads of a Generative-Depletion Civilization.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18908988 Ohumi, K. (2026). Brexit, Migration, and Civilizational Divergence.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19042351 Ohumi, K. (2026). The Foundations of Generative Science and the Life OS: A Paradigm Shift from Explanatory Knowledge to Participatory Wisdom. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19268705 UPCT Value Theory and Ethics Ohumi, K. (2025). Manifesto of the Life OS: The "It from Wave" Philosophy.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18106437 Ohumi, K. (2025). Envelopment Ethics: Generativity-First Inclusion.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18256968 Ohumi, K. (2025). Envelopment Integration: Reuniting Ethics, Well-Being, and Value.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18332397 Ohumi, K. (2026). Beyond Success and Chance.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18757361 Ohumi, K. (2026). When Values Crystallize.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18795785
Scientific civilization, Generative science, Generativity, Knowledge systems, Future of research, UPCT, Post-AI science, Zenodo, Process ontology, Universal Phase Crystallization Theory, Research evolution, AI and science, Knowledge dynamics, Knowledge production, Scientific infrastructure, Philosophy of science, Open science, Scientific methodology, Scientific paradigm shift, Research paradigm
Scientific civilization, Generative science, Generativity, Knowledge systems, Future of research, UPCT, Post-AI science, Zenodo, Process ontology, Universal Phase Crystallization Theory, Research evolution, AI and science, Knowledge dynamics, Knowledge production, Scientific infrastructure, Philosophy of science, Open science, Scientific methodology, Scientific paradigm shift, Research paradigm
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
