Science & technology | Robot scientists

Could AI transform science itself?

Previous scientific revolutions have been led by academic journals and laboratories. Robots might create the next one

A robot scientist
Image: Shira Inbar

“By amplifying human intelligence, AI may cause a new Renaissance, perhaps a new phase of the Enlightenment,” Yann LeCun, one of the godfathers of modern artificial intelligence (AI), suggested earlier this year. AI can already make some existing scientific processes faster and more efficient, but can it do more, by transforming the way science itself is done?

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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “I, robot scientist”

From the September 16th 2023 edition

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