Risk Aversion Is a Feature, Not a Bug:What That Means for AI in Research Administration
Research administration is risk-averse on purpose. The work navigates federal regulations, sponsor-specific terms, institutional policies, and audit trails that survive personnel changes by years. RAs have been trained well, and the training has stuck: when in doubt, slow down; when the rule is unclear, ask; when the answer is unverifiable, do not submit. That posture is not a deficit to be retrained. It is an asset the institution already has, and it should be respected as such.
