From forecasting storms to designing molecules: How new AI foundation models can speed up scientific discovery

-








People have always looked for patterns to explain the universe and to predict the future. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning” is an adage predicting the weather.

AI is very good at seeing patterns and making predictions. Now, Microsoft researchers are working to apply “foundation models” – large-scale models that take advantage of recent AI advances – to scientific disciplines. These models are trained on a wide variety of data and can excel at many tasks, in contrast to more specialized models. They have the potential to generate answers in a fraction of the time traditionally required and help solve more sophisticated problems.

Some of the wildly different scientific disciplines that are promising for advancement through AI include materials science, climate science and healthcare and life sciences. Experts say foundation models tailored to these disciplines will speed up the process of scientific discovery, allowing them to more quickly create practical things like medications, new materials or more accurate weather forecasts but also to better understand atoms, the human body or the Earth. Currently, many of these models are still under development at Microsoft Research, and the first, a weather model called Aurora, is already available.

“AI is a tool in your arsenal that can support you,” said Bonnie Kruft, partner and deputy director at Microsoft Research who helps oversee its AI for Science lab. “The idea is that we’re working on very science-specific models rather than language-specific models. We’re seeing this amazing opportunity to move beyond traditional human language-based large models into a new paradigm that employs mathematics and molecular simulations to create an even more powerful model for scientific discovery.”

Recent AI advances that have allowed people to plan parties or generate graphic presentations with a few conversational prompts or get instant summaries of meetings they’ve missed were initially powered by a new class of AI models known as large language models (LLMs). This type of foundation model is trained on huge amounts of text to perform a wide variety of language-related tasks. Now, Microsoft researchers are discovering how some of these same AI architectures and approaches can fuel advances in scientific discovery.

“Large language models have two remarkable properties that are very useful. The first one is, of course, they can generate and can understand human language, so they provide a wonderful human interface to very sophisticated technologies. But the other property of large language models – and I think this came as a big surprise to many of us – is that they can function as effective reasoning engines. And, of course, that’s going to be very useful in scientific discovery,” said Chris Bishop, technical fellow and director of Microsoft Research AI for Science, at a keynote to the Microsoft Research Forum earlier this year.

At first, AI researchers thought that very specific models trained to perform a narrow task – like the ones that could win at chess or backgammon (but not both), or those that could translate languages or transcribe recordings (but not both) – would outperform larger generalized models like LLMs. But the opposite turned out to be true – there was no need to train one model to answer questions or summarize research about law, another in physics and another in Shakespeare because one large, generalized model was able to outperform across different subjects and tasks. Now, researchers are investigating the possibility that foundation models can do the same for science.

Website: International Research Scientist Awards


Professor, #Lecturer, #Scientist, #Scholar, #Researcher, #Analyst, #Engineer, #Technician, #Coordinator, #Specialist, #Writer, #Assistant, #Associate, #Biologist, #Chemist, #Physicist, #Statistician, #DataScientist, #Consultant, #Coordinator, #ResearchScientist, #SeniorScientist, #JuniorScientist, #PostdoctoralResearcher, #LabTechnician, #ResearchCoordinator, #PrincipalInvestigator, #ClinicalResearchCoordinator, #GrantWriter, #R&DManager, #PolicyAnalyst, #TechnicalWriter, #MarketResearchAnalyst, #EnvironmentalScientist, #SocialScientist, #EconomicResearcher, #PublicHealthResearcher, #Anthropologist, #Ecologist


More Details:


Tilte: International Research Scientist Awards



Visit Our Award nomination: researchscientist.net/award-nomina...



Get Connected Here;







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The research ranks are faculty positions for those who are advancing science within a laboratory or research group at Yale School of Medicine.

-
Image
  The research ranks are faculty positions for those who are advancing science within a laboratory or research group at Yale School of Medicine. Overview Research rank faculty hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent degree. There are three categories of research ranks: Associate Research Scientist (ARS ) , Research Scientist (RS), and Senior Research Scientist (SRS), as detailed in the Yale Faculty Handbook. Teaching is not required for these ranks. Persons who are asked to undertake teaching should also be given a teaching appointment as a lecturer . In such circumstances, an appropriate portion of the salary may be paid from a teaching budget; however, for research appointees who are already employed full-time, the total compensation cannot be increased by payment for teaching. Research rank faculty conduct or oversee research as a skilled or advanced member of a research group, center, or core. Typically support for the position is derived from PI sponsor or research program and there is n
Read more

Researchers discover a surprising way to jump-start battery performance

-
Image
  Menlo Park, Calif. — A lithium-ion battery’s very first charge is more momentous than it sounds. It determines how well and how long the battery will work from then on – in particular, how many cycles of charging and discharging it can handle before deteriorating. In a study published today in Joule, researchers at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center report that giving research this first charge at unusually high currents increased their average lifespan by 50% while decreasing the initial charging time from 10 hours to just 20 minutes. Just as important, the researchers were able to use scientific machine learning to pinpoint specific changes in the battery electrodes that account for this increase in lifespan and performance – invaluable insights for battery manufacturers looking to streamline their processes and improve their products. The study was carried out by a SLAC/Stanford team led by Professor Will Chueh in collaboration with researchers from the Toyota Research Institute (
Read more

Your Guide to Becoming a Successful Research Scientist 2024!

-
Image
  Becoming a research scientist is quite the dream role for many individuals passionate about discovering new things and pushing the boundaries of what is known. They’ve also become essential in advancing science, technology, and our understanding of the world. If you’re wondering, “How can I become a research scientist?”, this guide will explain what a research scientist does, how to become a research scientist, their importance, the skills required, the different types of research scientists, their average salary, career opportunities, and the future of this exciting field. What Does a Research Scientist Do? In summary, research scientists conduct experiments, analyze data, and develop new theories or products. Their work is often performed in laboratories through fieldwork and theoretical research. They specialize in specific study areas, mainly biology, chemistry, physics, environmental and climate, or social sciences. They design and conduct experiments, collect and analyze data,
Read more