What AI Means for Science in 2025

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has sparked debate about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific research, particularly in the physical sciences. The prize was awarded to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their work on machine learning with artificial neural networks, which is seen as a technological export from physics to other fields. In contrast, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper of Google DeepMind for their work on protein structure prediction using AlphaFold, a generative AI model that has revolutionized biology and chemistry research. The author of the article believes that AI is transforming biology and chemistry with similar advances expected in physics soon to come, but notes that a "physics-native" foundation model is still needed to unlock its full potential in the physical sciences. The article also highlights the rapid evolution of AI and its increasing role in scientific research, with significant investments in alternative computing platforms such as quantum computing and thermodynamic computing emerging in response to the growing demands of machine learning models.