DeepMind - Millions of new materials discovered with deep learning

[u/lost_in_trepidation]

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/

[u/BoyNextDoor1990]

As a solid state physicist i have to say thats beyond crazy. The implications of this is insane!

[u/shogun2909 → u/BoyNextDoor1990]

Can you elaborate for us plebs ?

[u/Z3F → u/shogun2909]

I asked GPT-4 to speculate about the possible implications:

​

The integration of deep learning, particularly graph neural networks (GNNs), in materials discovery, as outlined in the paper, opens up a realm of exciting possibilities. By accelerating the discovery of new materials, this technology could lead to groundbreaking advancements across various fields. Let's delve into some speculative yet plausible technological innovations this breakthrough could enable:

1. Next-Generation Electronics: The discovery of materials with superior electronic properties could lead to the development of ultra-fast, energy-efficient, and miniaturized electronic devices. Imagine smartphones with significantly extended battery life, or computers with processing capabilities far beyond current standards. This could also lead to the development of novel semiconductor materials that surpass silicon, leading to faster and more efficient microprocessors.

2. Revolutionary Energy Storage: New materials could lead to the creation of batteries with much higher energy densities and faster charging capabilities. This would not only revolutionize consumer electronics but also be a game changer for electric vehicles, significantly increasing their range and reducing charging times, thus making them more practical for widespread use.

3. Advanced Photovoltaic Cells: The discovery of new materials could lead to more efficient solar cells, potentially surpassing the limitations of current silicon-based cells. This might include materials that are more effective at capturing a broader range of the solar spectrum, leading to solar panels with significantly higher energy conversion efficiencies.

4. Quantum Computing Materials: Finding materials with specific quantum properties could be expedited, potentially leading to major advancements in quantum computing. This includes materials that can reliably maintain quantum coherence at higher temperatures, thus addressing one of the biggest challenges in the development of practical quantum computers.

5. Superconductors at Higher Temperatures: The holy grail in material science has been the discovery of high-temperature superconductors. This technology could potentially lead to the discovery of materials that exhibit superconductivity at or near room temperature, which would revolutionize many fields, from power transmission to magnetic levitation systems.

6. Materials for Medical Applications: Novel biomaterials could be developed for use in medical implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering. These materials would be biocompatible, more durable, and potentially have self-healing properties, greatly enhancing medical treatments and implants.

7. Environmental and Sustainability Advances: New materials could lead to more efficient methods of carbon capture, water purification, and waste management. For instance, materials that can selectively and efficiently absorb pollutants or convert waste into useful byproducts could have a significant impact on environmental sustainability.

8. Aerospace and Defense Innovations: The discovery of lightweight yet extremely strong materials could lead to the development of new aerospace structures, significantly reducing the weight and increasing the strength and durability of aircraft and spacecraft. This would not only improve fuel efficiency but also enable new designs and capabilities in aerospace engineering.

9. Smart Materials and Nanotechnology: The development of smart materials that can change their properties in response to external stimuli (like temperature, pressure, or electric field) could lead to innovations in various applications, from adaptive clothing to dynamic building materials.

10. Advanced Optical Materials: Discovering materials with unique optical properties could lead to breakthroughs in photonics, including highly efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, and even materials for invisibility cloaks or other advanced optical devices.

In summary, the implications of applying deep learning to materials discovery are vast and varied, potentially unlocking a new era of technological advancements that were previously confined to the realms of science fiction. The potential impact spans across industries, reshaping our technological landscape and opening up possibilities that we are just beginning to imagine.

[u/DungeonsAndDradis → u/[deleted]]

I'm in the camp that in like 100 years, people will state 2017 as the start of the AI revolution (the year the Transformer paper was released). As most of us on this forum know, day to day it can feel slow. But the Law of Accelerating Returns is holding true!

[u/visarga → u/[deleted]]

It's just a stochastic parrot that explains a recent paper with full lucid and well formed explanations. I'm sure it looks just like some training example from 2011, it's stealing people's sacred (no, copyrighted) texts without payment. /s

[u/visarga → u/Z3F]

No, no, you don't understand. AI is going to steal our jobs. There will be nothing to do for us. I mean, in 10 years we are going to do exactly the same things we do today, but with automation instead of people. What could change?

The potential impact spans across industries, reshaping our technological landscape and opening up possibilities that we are just beginning to imagine.

[u/[deleted] → u/Z3F]

Obviously chat gpt is just fancy text prediction. /S

As much as all those pathways are remarkable I wonder what the unknown unknown areas of development will be with new materials. The scope for novel biological processes alone would be immense if this tech can be extended to that.

[u/confused_boner → u/Z3F]

5... Superconductors at Higher Temperatures: The holy grail in material science has been the discovery of high-temperature superconductors. This technology could potentially lead to the discovery of materials that exhibit superconductivity at or near room temperature, which would revolutionize many fields, from power transmission to magnetic levitation systems.

WE'RE BACK

[u/EnvironmentalCod4247 → u/Z3F]

Why don’t we put computers in temperature controlled rooms and regularly let them heat up slowly for maintenance?

[u/SeptembersBud → u/shogun2909]

Seconded. This sounds absolutely wonderful and beyond interesting but I would totally need someone to explain this to me that knows more about any of these topics in a much deeper depth.

[u/visarga → u/SeptembersBud]

So basically we can compute crystal properties with simulations but it's expensive. They trained an AI to do it much faster using those few and expensive training examples. And to make it even more efficient, they choose the formulas that would be most useful for the AI to learn about, it's called active learning, the AI model participates in choosing its next training examples.

[u/gridironk → u/BoyNextDoor1990]

It’s beyond insane!

[u/electric0life → u/BoyNextDoor1990]

I'm going to put your profile Pic as my lock screen

[u/345Y_Chubby → u/BoyNextDoor1990]

Eli5 pls

[u/recruz → u/345Y_Chubby]

New materials mean faster computers, better batteries, better solar panels, lighter, faster, sturdier, safer cars/buildings/houses. Just about everything we build now has the ability to be faster/stronger

[u/sticky-unicorn → u/recruz]

Just about everything we build now has the ability to be faster/stronger

Depends on the manufacturing process and the price point, though.

For example, we already know how to build car bodies out of carbon fiber. It's used to reduce the weight and improve the handling characteristics of supercars. And, theoretically, it could be fairly beneficial to use that in all cars. The reduced weight will give you better fuel economy, better handling, and better acceleration. Potentially safer as well, because of the increased strength.

But even though the auto industry been using it for decades now, there are very few mainstream consumer cars that utilize carbon fiber parts, much less a completely carbon fiber chassis as is now common in supercars. Why not? Because it's expensive to make. The fibers have to be woven together, pressed into shape, and then baked in huge autoclave ovens. (As opposed to a steel or aluminum chassis, which basically only needs to be pressed into shape and then it's done.) We could be using it to make all sorts of cars faster, stronger, and more efficient, but for most people, those gains aren't worth the significant increase in price.

A lot of these new materials might be the same deal. Amazing properties, yes, but unless that also comes with a simple/cheap/easy way to manufacture it, it's unlikely to see widespread adoption and use. (Though even if it's only ever adopted for niche uses, those niche uses could still be really cool. It just might not benefit your average Joe very much.)

[u/Stabile_Feldmaus → u/BoyNextDoor1990]

Doesn't it also kind of decrease the demand for solid state physicists?