York Studio AI Discovery Lab

The lab for AI-mediated discovery.

Public experiments on the systems quietly reshaping what people and agents discover.

Methods first. Results second. Commercial claims last.

Current study / 001

Protocol in preparation

The AI Answer Variability Study

A fixed prompt panel. Repeated comparable observations. No deliberate optimisation change. The study asks how much movement remains—and how large an effect a realistic measurement programme could distinguish from that background.

Primary outcomeNull-condition answer variance
Practical outcomeDetectable effect size and statistical power
Publication statusNo results published
Inspect the draft protocol

Research commitments

The method is part of the product.

A public chart is not reproducible research unless a reader can understand how it came to exist.

01

Precommit the question

Define the research question, sampling frame, outcomes, exclusions, and stopping rule before reading the result.

02

Preserve the evidence

Keep the answer, source, prompt version, surface, method, timestamp, and collection settings attached to each observation.

03

Publish the boundary

Disclose missing data, surface limitations, uncertainty, competing explanations, and results that do not resolve the question.

04

Correct in public

Version material changes, maintain a correction path, and leave the history visible when the interpretation changes.

Research pipeline

Questions worth measuring.

The pipeline is a direction of travel, not a claim that collection has begun. Priorities may change when evidence or customer questions change.

01

Answer variability

How much do repeated answers move under a null condition?

Protocol draft
02

Source substitution

When an answer stays similar, how often do its cited sources change?

Planned
03

Surface divergence

How different are comparable API and authorised consumer-surface observations?

Planned
04

Intervention testing

What effect sizes can realistic prompt panels detect after a controlled content change?

Planned

Lab updates

See the evidence arrive.

Join the Briefing for protocol changes, study releases, and honest post-mortems.

Follow the Lab