AI meets materials science: the promise and pitfalls of automated discovery

A team of researchers from the University of California Berkeley has published a paper on an 'autonomous laboratory' that uses AI and robotics to accelerate the discovery and synthesis of new materials. However, doubts have been raised about the accuracy of the AI's interpretations of XRD data, leading to questions about the validity of the results. The researchers acknowledge that while the AI can perform certain tasks, it still requires human verification and intervention.