IIT Delhi researchers create AI agent to run labs

WALKING into a laboratory where experiments are conducted without human hands may sound like science fiction, but researchers at IIT Delhi have made it a reality.

- IFRAH MUFTI @ New Delhi

In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists have developed an Artificially Intelligent Lab Assistant (AILA) that can independently run complex laboratory experiments, analyse data, and make decisions in real time.

Until now, artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT were largely limited to assisting researchers with writing, calculations, or data analysis. IIT researchers on Tuesday shared that AILA goes several steps further. It can operate real scientific equipment, particularly the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), one of the most delicate and complex instruments used to study materials at the nanoscale.