Voice of the Machine: AI and the Language of Power

Artificial Intelligence is often defined as the ability of a machine to learn how to solve cognitive problems--a process akin to human intelligence. Within the realm of scientific methodology and laboratory interconnectivity, the most applicable way of thinking about AI is not that it seeks to replicate human reasoning precisely, but rather that it uses human reasoning as a model with the goal of supplementing and augmenting human observation and decision processes. In this context, an AI algorithm must be trained to interpret available data and specified criteria to meet business objectives and drive operational decision making. AI further refines this process through an accumulation of relevant observations over time as both the accumulated data and business objectives are refined, allowing the understanding of the machine to approach that of human cognition. The inherent diversity of equipment and systems involved in science and discovery is particularly conducive to the benefits of AI, where laboratory operations can be continuously optimized by this constant and cumulative refinement ability.