Robot scientists make real discoveries

UK researchers have developed a robot scientist that’s actually independently discovered new scientific knowledge.

The intelligent computer system called — appropriately enough — Adam discovered on its own “simple but new” scientific knowledge about the genomics of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which scientists study as a model for more complex life forms. Adam’s developers used separate experiments to confirm the robot scientist’s hypotheses were both novel and correct.

“Because biological organisms are so complex it is important that the details of biological experiments are recorded in great detail,” said Ross King, who led the research at Aberystwyth University. “This is difficult and irksome for human scientists, but easy for Robot Scientists.”

While Adam remains a prototype, the research team is now working to develop Eve, a robot scientist designed to help find new drugs for treating diseases like malaria and schistosomiasis, an infection caused by a parasitic worm in the tropics.

“If science was more efficient it would be better placed to help solve society’s problems,” King said. “One way to make science more efficient is through automation. Automation was the driving force behind much of the 19th and 20th century progress, and this is likely to continue.”