Are Neural Networks About to Reinvent Physics? - Issue 78: Atmospheres

Can AI teach itself the laws of physics? Will classical computers soon be replaced by deep neural networks? Sure looks like it, if you've been following the news, which lately has been filled with headlines like, "A neural net solves the three-body problem 100 million times faster: Machine learning provides an entirely new way to tackle one of the classic problems of applied mathematics," and "Who needs Copernicus if you have machine learning?". The latter was described by another journalist, in an article called "AI Teaches Itself Laws of Physics," as a "monumental moment in both AI and physics," which "could be critical in solving quantum mechanics problems." The trouble is, the authors have given no compelling reason to think that they could actually do this.