The Signal Report // AI IN THE LAB
AI in the Lab.
Where machine learning genuinely helps research, and where 'AI discovered X' is doing a lot of the lifting. All reports →
2 in this beat
Report 009 · AI in the Lab · 2026-07-06 · 5 min
Did AI Really Discover Millions of Materials?
Google's AI predicted 2.2 million new crystals. Then working chemists opened the list and found "scant evidence" the compounds were novel, credible, and useful. What "discovered" means when the model never made anything, from a lab scientist.
Read the report → Report 003 · AI in the Lab · 2026-07-04 · 5 minThe Pocket the AI Couldn't See
Several state-of-the-art models nailed a cancer protein's shape and missed a hidden druggable pocket. The lab found it by hand. What that gap says about AI in research, and how to read an "AI discovered X" headline.
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