# Are AIs capable of using the scientific method?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ais-capable-of-using-the-scientific-method/980092>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Tags:** ai\
**Created:** [February 20, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ais-capable-of-using-the-scientific-method/980092 "2023-02-20T16:13:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 54

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**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ais-capable-of-using-the-scientific-method/980092/54 "2023-02-20T21:38:33Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> If a computer, programmed to develop an aerodynamic shape, comes up with something the human engineer never even suspected, then surely that counts as “creative” and “design”.

I think the “creative” requirement isn’t fulfilled if the computer searched a known design space more thoroughly (and efficiently) than a human could, it doesn’t necessarily count as a creative act. In a way, it’s like the “non-obvious” requirement for invention.

I’ll drop this link to a Nature News article on this topic I posted in another AI thread.

> [@Straight Dope 1/27/2023: Could artificial intelligence replace journalists?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-1-27-2023-could-artificial-intelligence-replace-journalists/978896/185):
>
> I thought thi recent Nature News article might help put some context to the discussion. The subject is science, not journalism, but the discussion points still apply, I think. [What ChatGPT and generative AI mean for science (nature.com)](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00340-6) Some quotes from the article: “I use LLMs every day now,” says Hafsteinn Einarsson, a computer scientist at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. He started with GPT-3, but has since switched to ChatGPT, which helps him to write presentation slides, studen…

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