Gabe Gomes, a professor in chemical engineering, believes that large language models (LLMs) can revolutionize chemical research if integrated thoughtfully. Current research often separates computer modeling from laboratory experiments, but LLMs have the potential to bridge this gap and enhance discovery. In 2023, Gomes’s team launched Coscientist, an LLM-based system that autonomously plans and executes experiments, shifting researchers’ roles toward higher-level thinking. LLMs can function better in “active” environments, where they interact with databases and instruments to gather real-time information, as opposed to “passive” settings where they only rely on their training. Challenges such as trustworthiness, hallucination, and integration with existing lab tools remain significant hurdles. Gomes emphasizes the importance of evaluating LLMs not just on knowledge retrieval, but on their reasoning capabilities in real-world scenarios. The future applications of LLMs could streamline literature navigation, experiment design, and data extraction, ultimately transforming scientific workflows.
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