AI for Science: Paradigm shift or phase transition?

The 2024 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry have cemented artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative force in scientific research, marking the mainstream emergence of AI for Science (AI4S). This editorial interrogates the core epistemological question facing the research community: whether AI-driven inquiry constitutes a fundamental paradigm shift in the scientific method or merely a transitional phase in computational data processing. We delineate the evolutionary tiers of AI capability in scientific discovery, namely, Keplerian, Edisonian, and Einsteinian AI, and analyze the pivotal shift toward agentic scientific systems that are redefining human-AI research collaboration. We further address the critical infrastructure gaps, ethical risks, and reproducibility challenges inherent to the mainstream adoption of AI4S, particularly within the environmental science disciplines. To uphold editorial rigor and scholarly integrity, we propose a framework for evaluating AI-enabled research contributions, emphasizing human oversight, transparent methodology, and responsible innovation. This editorial calls for rigorous, cross-disciplinary scholarship that harnesses AI's potential while safeguarding the core principles of scientific inquiry, positioning AI4S as a sustainable driver of discovery rather than a fleeting technological trend.