AI and the future of physics

Physics World Stories Podcast

Artificial intelligence is transforming physics at an unprecedented pace. In the latest episode of Physics World Stories, host Andrew Glester is joined by three expert guests to explore AI’s impact on discovery, research and the future of the field.

Tony Hey, a physicist who worked with Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann at Caltech in the 1970s, shares his perspective on AI’s role in computation and discovery. A former vice-president of Microsoft Research Connections, he also edited the Feynman Lectures on Computation (Anniversary Edition), a key text on physics and computing.

Caterina Doglioni, a particle physicist at the University of Manchester and part of CERN’s ATLAS collaboration, explains how AI is unlocking new physics at the Large Hadron Collider. She sees big potential but warns against relying too much on AI’s “black box” models without truly understanding nature’s behaviour.

Felice Frankel, a science photographer and MIT research scientist, discusses AI’s promise for visualizing science. However, she is concerned about its potential to manipulate scientific data and imagery – distorting reality. Frankel wrote about the need for an ethical code of conduct for AI in science imagery in this recent Nature essay.

The episode also questions the environmental cost of AI’s vast energy demands. As AI becomes central to physics, should researchers worry about its sustainability? What responsibility do physicists have in managing its impact?

Hey and Doglioni were advisers for the IOP report Physics and AI: A Physics Community Perspective, which explores the opportunities and challenges at the intersection of AI and physics.

Listen now for a lively discussion on AI’s evolving role in physics.