IBM announces AI based chemistry lab: RoboRXN

IBM has announced on its blog page the development of an AI/cloud-based chemistry lab named RoboRXN. Its purpose is to help chemists develop new materials in a faster and more efficient way than the current trial-and-error process. For thousands of years, humans have devised new materials by combining other raw materials, quite often through the use of treatments to instigate chemical reactions. However, the trial-and-error method--an oftentimes tedious and expensive endeavor--has remained relatively unchanged over the years. As part of its announcement, IBM suggests that in the modern age, it costs on average $10 million (and takes on average 10 years) for a company to develop a useful new material.