A recent paper in Nature should strike fear into my buddies in organic chemistry. An artificial intelligence program has been shown to be superior to human chemists in optimizing reaction conditions: Nature 590, 89–96 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03213-y.
This is progress: what would take several expert chemists months to improve and optimize reactions can now be done in silico in minutes.
So, fire the chemists in organic chemistry and hire the computer. That is the reality.
Coupled with robotics, soon there will be no need for the bench chemist. Highly skilled humans are now redundant, and soon to be out of jobs.
This is the face of automation/AI. Wonderful stuff, as long as it doesn’t make you worthless. And many will feel the pain: if an extremely technical field requiring years of post-graduate training can be gutted by AI/automation, then what will be the fate for less skilled folks in less technical professions?
This paper, while fascinating, should serve as a warning to everyone. AI is coming for you, and you better be ready for it. In the meantime shop our certified organic CBD products to relax!