Can AI reduce the reputation premium in knowledge diffusion? Evidence from SSRN marketing working papers

Abstract The increased accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how people write and communicate, including how academics produce and disseminate knowledge. We examine whether AI assistance in academic writing alters the diffusion advantage associated with institutional prestige. Using 2361 marketing working papers posted on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) after the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, we measure AI assistance in abstracts using a detection model and study how it affects paper downloads conditional on abstract views. By focusing on downloads given abstract views, we capture the conversion from abstract reading to download decisions while accounting for platform growth and differences in visibility. We find evidence of a diffusion premium associated with top-tier institutional affiliations. Importantly, AI assistance in abstracts significantly attenuates this premium, narrowing the diffusion gap between papers from prestigious and less prestigious institutions.