CSIRO and Google Australia today launched a new initiative to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in scientific research, extending their five-year partnership. In this collaboration, they are determined to equip Australian researchers with AI tools that will revolutionize scientific discovery through research, education, and support.
CSIRO, the national science agency of Australia, along with Google Australia, has announced a new partnership to enhance the use of AI for scientific research. This initiative is part of a five-year partnership between the two to foster the adoption of AI right across the Australian research community.
The Program Director of CSIRO's AI for Science, Dr. Stefan Harrer, said recent advancements in generative AI have opened new avenues now for researchers. While up to now, narrow AI has been employed on specific tasks-such as Google's AlphaFold, which made breakthroughs in protein structure prediction-the usage of broader generative AI will henceforth accelerate and probably transform scientific research in many fields.
That is now different with generative AI. In the past, far too often, researchers had to wrestle with scaling problem issues of AI models, constraining broader applicability. Today, AI can take on problems ranging across many scientific disciplines, placing these tools within easier reach of the hands of a much larger swath of researchers.
Dr. Harrer underscored how giving Australian scientists the right skill set to be able to take advantage of these kinds of AI improvements is very instrumental in their pursuit to maximize the benefit therein.
I couldn't be more excited about this new initiative, given how AI is helping to tackle some of the greatest challenges in biology, chemistry, and earth sciences," said Lizzie Dorfman, PhD, Product Lead for Science AI at Google Research. "Collaboration will continue to play an increasingly critical role in driving scientific progress forward. Google is committed to further investment in the Australian scientific community.".
The partnership builds on an array of previous successes, including AI-driven efforts to automate the detection of invasive starfish on the Great Barrier Reef, map seagrass meadows to understand carbon sequestration potential, and support conservation of the endangered Giant Kelp forests.