New ‘AI scientists’ are improving – but reveal their fundamental limits

Many of the most exciting discoveries in science involve highly specialised knowledge and making connections between far-flung facts. Scientists must combine deep analysis with broad reasoning strategies.

As in many information-rich tasks, researchers are looking to artificial intelligence (AI) systems to speed up their work. AI tools may be able to support key steps such as generating ideas, reviewing existing work and analysing data.

The latest systems use large language models (LLMs) to allow scientists to interact naturally and directly with the vast…

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