| Abstract Scope |
While the concepts surrounding the application of artificial intelligence to materials R&D have become commonplace, the road to this ubiquity has been decidedly an uneven one. Here we explore this evolution from the foundational ideas captured in the Materials Genome Initiative to the implications of autonomous laboratories (self-driving labs or SDLs) to the research enterprise. To realize the promise of SDLs will also require a long, and ongoing conversation around standards, as the interoperability of research tools is central to a successful SDL implementation, but standards development can take years, and the incentives are often diffuse, at best. However, the the advent of LLMs and associated tools may help to overcome the barriers to interoperability. I hope to provoke a wide-ranging discussion on these issues. |