...“When I read it, I literally fell off my chair,” says Peltz. He had just written a grant proposal focused on the importance of epigenetic changes in liver fibrosis, and the AI had targeted the same theme for its proposed therapeutics.

The AI co-scientist suggested three drugs, and Peltz came up with two more (all of which are already approved to treat other conditions). Google paid Peltz to help accelerate lab testing, and over the next few months, Peltz’s lab tested all five drugs in its human organoid model. Two of the AI’s three suggestions showed promise for promoting liver regeneration and inhibiting fibrosis6, whereas neither of Peltz’s worked out.

The experience left him impressed, he says: “These LLMs are what fire was for early human societies.”...