AI for Social Good

4AI for Good: Pursuit of Scientific Knowledge

“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”

– Louis Pasteur

“Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

CHAPTER 3 COVERED how AI can affect issues at a societal level. Here, we continue that exploration, focusing on AI's effect on our environment and our pursuit of scientific knowledge.

Scientists have been among the first to jump at the opportunities that AI offers to supercharge their research. AI flourishes particularly in fields where new correlations and insights are waiting to be found hidden in voluminous data, such as genetic and protein research, astronomy, pharmacology, and materials science. While many of these fields have built specialized artificial intelligence tools, the promise of foundational models, discussed in Chapter 2, will expand the reach of AI to many other fields.

In this chapter, we will look at how scientists incorporate AI into their work. We will look at how research scientists in biology and conservation have made AI part of their arsenal of research tools with which to study endangered populations. Then, we explore how AI has revolutionized the study of proteins, and we end with how AI helps us find new planets and possibly other types of intelligence.

Biodiversity

When we consider the mind-boggling array ...