A new AI tool has solved a complex microbiological puzzle in just two days of research that took scientists almost a decade to complete.
Professor Jose R. Penades and his team of scientists in London have spent years researching how certain superbugs develop resistance to antibiotics, the BBC reported on Thursday.
When they tested Google’s “co-scientist” tool, they came to the same conclusion in 48 hours, despite the AI tool not having previously had access to their unpublished research.
“I was shocked,” Penades told the BBC, adding that he even emailed Google asking if it had accessed his computer, which the company denied.
In addition to confirming the scientists’ findings, the AI tool suggested four additional hypotheses, one of which the team had never considered.
The research focused on how superbugs acquire resistance, and scientists suspect they use viral “tails” to transmit between species.
Artificial intelligence independently came up with the same theory, amplifying the results of their many years of work.
Penades said artificial intelligence could revolutionize scientific discoveries.
While there are concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, he believes it is a powerful tool that could transform research.
