Chemistry research is grounded on iterative cycles in which experiments are designed, executed and then refined to achieve a particular goal. The experience and intuition of researchers has a crucial role in working out the initial design, and in the subsequent optimization process — something that could not previously have been replicated in autonomous systems that carry out chemistry research. Writing in Nature, Boiko et al.¹ report an artificial intelligence (AI) agent named Coscientist that can plan and orchestrate multiple tasks in the chemistry-research cycle without detailed human input, bringing the vision of self-driving laboratories a step closer to reality.

Source link