How AI could change science

When most people encounter artificial intelligence today, it's recommending a new song or movie. AI technology is increasingly used to open up new horizons for scientists and researchers. At the University of Chicago, researchers are using it for everything from scanning the skies for supernovae to finding new drugs from millions of potential combinations and developing a deeper understanding of the complex phenomena underlying the Earth's climate. Today's AI commonly works by starting from massive data sets, from which it figures out its own strategies to solve a problem or make a prediction--rather than rely on humans explicitly programming it how to reach a conclusion. The results are an array of innovative applications.