According to Xinhua News Agency on Mar. 27, the Ministry of Science and Technology, in conjunction with National Natural Science Foundation of China, launched a special deployment of artificial intelligence-driven scientific research.

Why should China start the special deployment? What is the importance of this work? What impact will AI have on our lives? People’s Daily interviewed Wang Feiyue, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Chinese Association of Automation and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Complex System Management and Control, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Haiyan, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Central Committee of China Democratic League and Vice President of the School of Public Policy and Management of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhang Linfeng, Member of the Expert Group for the 2030 New Generation Artificial Intelligence Major Project in Science and Technology Innovation of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Vice President of Beijing Institute of Scientific Intelligence.

What is the main research of AI-driven scientific research?

People’s Daily: What signals are released by the launch of special deployment of AI-driven scientific research and how does this research differ from traditional scientific research?

Wang Feiyue: AI-driven scientific research is mainly to promote and change traditional scientific research methods through the application of intelligent science and technology. Firstly, it can process data from experiments, observations and simulations more quickly, extract important information from them and advance scientific research. Secondly, it can provide more efficient calculations and simulations, which are crucial for studying complex natural phenomena and systems. It is also important for strengthening the dominance of interdisciplinary disciplines and new arts.

Haiyan Wang: The application of AI to scientific research is essentially the introduction of new methods into the research process, and its widespread application has the potential to trigger a new scientific paradigm. AI-driven scientific research can effectively use AI algorithms to solve current scientific problems. Its biggest highlight is a new way to connect data, models, algorithms, computing power and talent collaboration, helping interdisciplinary and inter-industrial researcher to break down professional barriers and rapidly form consensus and knowledge iterations.

Zhang Linfeng: AI-driven scientific research is a process of major reconstruction of disciplines and knowledge systems, which requires cross-fertilisation of disciplines such as computing, data science, materials, chemistry and biology, as well as deeper theoretical construction and algorithm design in fundamental disciplines such as mathematics and physics. This unprecedented approach will bring together people from different disciplines and backgrounds.

What will be the far-reaching implications of this special deployment?

People’s Daily: Could you please talk about the importance of carrying out this work to China’s current development from the perspective of developing the economy and technology reserves?

Wang Haiyan: Currently, many countries have started to pay close attention to AI-driven scientific research, which is likely to become a new battleground between countries soon. From the perspective of economic development, it can shorten the research cycle and the cycle from basic research to the transformation of achievements, promote scientific and technological innovation, improve economic efficiency, advance industrial upgrading, and create high-quality jobs. From the institutional level, it will promote interdisciplinary cooperation and reorganization of scientist teams, giving rise to new models of research organization and data governance.

Wang Feiyue: I think the main thing is that it can improve the efficiency and accuracy of scientific research. The specialized work is accelerating the paradigm shift in scientific research, and a scientific revolution is taking place that will change the world landscape.

Zhang Linfeng: With the booming development of new generation of artificial intelligence technology, scientific research is changing from a workshop model to a platform research model. The specialized work is the main driving force behind the formation of the platform research model, which will help us seize the first opportunity in the new round of scientific revolution.

Why focus on these key issues and key areas?

People’s Daily: The special deployment of AI-driven scientific research is closely related to the key problems in basic disciplines such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and astronomy, and is focused on research needs in key areas such as drug development, genetic research, biological breeding and new materials development.

Zhang Linfeng: Basic disciplines provide an important theoretical foundation for scientific and technological development. Drug research and development, gene research, biological breeding, etc. are typical disciplines and fields in urgent need, prominent progress and prominent representation for the combination of artificial intelligence and scientific research. For example, artificial intelligence models based on biological mechanisms, data related to diseases and drug use, and various pharmacological properties of drugs can predict the safety and effectiveness of new drugs.

It is worth noting that AI approaches in scientific research cannot simply replicate the models and algorithms we now know, but require the development of intelligent algorithms, models and software tools with targeted applications.

Haiyan Wang: Drug development, genetic research, biological breeding and new material development are all areas where international competition is at the forefront and most intense. The basic disciplines such as mathematics, physics and chemistry are the underlying logic of all scientific fields and various key core technologies.

Basic disciplines often require a large number of experimental verification and superb computing power to carry out theoretical exploration, including a huge amount of trial process, and it is too inefficient to rely on traditional manual completion of relevant experiments and calculations. The new tools and techniques brought by AI can greatly shorten the cycle from basic research to technological innovation, and are expected to help achieve major breakthroughs in fundamental disciplines.

What is the global outlook for AI development? What echelon is China in?

People’s Daily: What are the development characteristics of China’s artificial intelligence field? With the implementation of this work, what are the prospects for the development of AI?

Wang Feiyue: The development of AI has entered the stage from algorithmic intelligence to linguistic intelligence and accelerated into a new era of imaginative intelligence. In the future, human’s ability to imagine science and technology will become the first productive force, and knowledge automation will become the normal technology for social development. At present, research in the field of AI in China is in line with this development, and domestic companies, laboratories and universities are following the international frontier and striving to remain in the first echelon.

We are excited about the global advances in AI, but there is still a long way to go before AI-driven scientific research becomes a popular paradigm.