Sakana AI introduced the world's first "AI scientist"

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Sakana AI introduced the world's first “AI scientist” — a new model that can brainstorm, code, experiment, draft papers, and even peer review, all without human intervention. Plus, new groundbreaking research hints at hidden oceans lurking deep beneath Mars surface.

 By the CogX R&I team

August 23, 2024 

Unveiled by Sakana AI in collaboration with researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia, "The AI Scientist" promises to revolutionise scientific discovery through automated experimentation. While the project marks a significant step towards open-ended AI learning, initial tests suggest it won't be replacing human scientists any time soon.

Key features of The AI Scientist include:

• Fully automated end-to-end scientific paper generation

• Idea generation, literature search, and experiment planning

• Automated peer review process

• Open-ended learning loop for continuous improvement

• Cost-effective research at approximately $15 per paper

Source: Sakana.ai

Not quite Nobel prize-worthy: Despite the excitement, The AI Scientist's current output is more incremental than groundbreaking. While it has produced papers on topics like diffusion models and transformers, the system still occasionally generates flawed content. The researchers admit there are still occasional flaws in the papers produced by this first version, raising questions about the AI's readiness to tackle complex scientific challenges independently.

Sakana AI is promising more potential ahead, including applications in developing more capable AI agents. The team's latest project involves an AI program that invents and builds AI agents, outperforming human-designed ones in some tasks. 

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