The writer is a science commentator As Madonna once warbled, we are living in a material world. Our species has named historic periods after bronze, stone and iron. Modern society runs on innovative materials, such as lithium-ion batteries and solar cells.
So when Google DeepMind researchers claimed in November that its artificial intelligence tool had discovered more than 2mn new crystalline materials, the breakthrough made global headlines. The company presented the results as “an order-of-magnitude expansion in stable materials known to humanity”.
Separately, other researchers based in Berkeley simultaneously revealed that their automated laboratory had created 41 novel compounds, cross-referenced with Google DeepMind’s database, in under three weeks. Only the dullest mind could fail to imagine a giddy future: lines of robotic arms fabricating shiny new AI-designed materials to solve grand challenges like clean energy.