Google’s AI ‘Co-Scientist’ Solves 10-Year Superbug Mystery in 48 Hours:

In my opinion, the growth of AI is both impressive and worrying. On one hand, it is incredibly advanced. On the other hand, it could potentially threaten jobs if it continues to improve this quickly.

A while back, researchers of Imperial College London were in awe after seeing Google's AI tool “co-scientist” solve a problem in 48 hours. In contrast, these researchers worked over a decade to solve the same problem.

In their efforts, they studied superbugs – those bacteria that are immune to antibiotics. They aimed to discover why these bacteria are so powerful in the first place. To their surprise, after extensive research they concluded that superbugs have the unique ability to steal parts from viruses enabling them to unlock new doors. They can put this ability to use for spreading infections among different animals and people. However, the dataset that their claims were supported with took them nearly a decade to complete.

After the new Google AI tool was released, Professor Penadés decided to put a challenge in front of the “co-scientist” of Google. He provided the AI tool with a brief overview of the project he was working on. Within two days, the AI provided a response that aligned with the years of research his team was working on. But that was not the primary highlight. One of them also offered four additional suggestions, out of which there was one that the team had never considered. They are now working on that as well.

How the AI achieved that is astounding.

The AI does not have any access to the team’s data. It was not perusing through private documents or breaking into systems. Rather, it used recognized a pattern and connected the dots. Upon achieving the result, stared in disbelief to the extent that he went ahead and contacted Google to confirm whether or not they had materialized his information. They promised him they did not.

There are specific AI-related scientists are particularly concerned about. Will AI become the industry’s new bane? Eliminate employment opportunities? According to Professor Penadés, it is highly unlikely. Rather, he thinks that AI has the potential to propose new concepts and accelerate the rate of discoveries. In his own words, “This will change science... It’s basically having a sec brain who works at lightning speed.”