Researchers in China have unveiled a new AI framework that could accelerate the discovery of new medicines. DrugCLIP can scan millions of potential drug compounds against thousands of protein targets in just a few hours—ten million times faster than current virtual screening methods.
This is layer upon layer of hopeful optimism! And I love that for us, but let’s break down those hopes and dreams into a few chapters for a sci-fi story
Layer 1: the AI PR firm is correct in promising it “could” help
Layer 2: “could” will transform into “did”
Layer 3: actual researchers won’t be the first to get removed
Layer 4: this magical bot will not degrade as it starts to eat other bots’ input
Layers 3 and 4 does sound frighteningly possible. Sci Fi is a great genre meant to warn its readers of the possibilities of new technologies if left unchecked. That’s why regulation in how AI is used in conjunction with scientists needs to be thought of and implemented ahead of time instead of letting the world have to react to such a scenario.