Researchers at MIT have developed an AI - guided robotic platform to automate the production of small molecules , freeing chemists from labour - intensive tasks . Initially , the AI software uses neural algorithms trained on previously published chemical reactions to recommend a route for synthesising a molecule , after which a chemist reviews it and transforms it into a recipe . Next , the robotic platform automatically builds the molecular assembly line and performs the reactions to produce the molecule . The innovation allows for a quick synthesis and could lead to novel molecules with wide - ranging applications , such as in medicine , polymer chemistry or solar energy .
Researchers at MIT have developed an AI-guided robotic platform to automate the production of small molecules, freeing chemists from labour-intensive tasks. Initially, the AI software uses neural networks trained on previously published chemical reactions to recommend a route for synthesising a molecule, after which a chemist reviews it and turns it into a recipe. Next, the robotic platform automatically builds the molecular assembly line and performs the reactions to manufacture the compound. The innovation allows for a quick turnaround and could lead to novel molecules with wide-ranging applications, such as in medicine, polymer chemistry or solar energy.