Nobel for protein folding sparks debate on AI's role in scientific prizes

Many machine learning algorithms start with humans "teaching" them the already known, and then letting the algo loose on existing data where it may find new patterns

In July 2022, this column pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) had done at least two pieces of research for which it deserved Nobel prizes. One was working out how to efficiently manage magnetic fields that enable controlled nuclear fusion. The other involved understanding the mechanics of protein folding, and making good guesses about the biochemical impact of such protein folding.

 

The 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has just been awarded for the latter, “for computational protein design.” Two computer scientists, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper shared half the Nobel. They conceptualised the “Alphafold” algorithm, which worked out protein folding