The Nobel Awards Season just ended, with the “Oscars of Science” awarded to some of the world’s brightest minds. The entire science world was watching, and just like with the Oscars, there was an element of suspense, drama, envy, celebration, and happiness. Most of the Nobel Laureates are also phenomenal speakers and communicators with decades of teaching experience, and thousands of people across the world are glued to their monitors to hear their inspiring stories. The Nobel Prizes are awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. Unfortunately, there is no Nobel Prize for Computer Science, Mathematics, or Engineering. So, it seems like it would be nearly impossible for an AI scientist to be awarded a Nobel. But what if that AI scientist used AI to make a significant advance in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences? Well, I know of one – Demis Hassabis of DeepMind. And I certainly do think that he deserves one. So is it possible?
The Rise of AlphaFold as a Standard Laboratory Tool And Applications in Drug Discovery
Demis Hassabis referred to in his tweet “AlphaFold has been used to accelerate the design of a potential drug for liver cancer – by helping researchers identify a target in just 30 days. This is the first successful application of our AI to hit identification in drug discovery”. Unfortunately, there was no reference to the paper but we have not seen another hit for liver cancer out of AlphaFold. But I was very happy when Demis confirmed that it was indeed our study.
