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Making Claude a Chemist

anthropic.com

11–20 of 97 posts

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#11

Let’s ban this before it gets too powerful !

I don't think it should be outright banned, automated intelligence is like a gun, hammer, knife, nuclear warhead, etc.

I see that intelligence itself is a tool, but that doesn't mean I want an automated gun, automated hammer, automated nuclear warhead, etc.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#13
post #6

The non-professional side of Organic Chemistry is one place where I think AI would really shine. Feels complex like solving a Rubik's cube to write down synthesis steps but it is all a sequence of memorized tricks. Do Cannizaro if you want this, Bergmann to do that. But the synthesis plan is only 10% of the actual work. The gap between writing down the synthesis step and actually doing it is also extremely large. Eve…

Organic chemistry seems like a discipline better done by chemists than forward deployed staff with their payoff function sharply truncated at an IPO which at this point may or may not happen on schedule.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it should be outright banned, automated intelligence is like a gun, hammer, knife, nuclear warhead, etc.

not really, though. you don't see automated intelligence in the hands of junkies et al. ... and you don't see it coming, either ...

Junkies et al can log into chatgpt right now and use it to create a phishing email to steal drug money from your Grandma. Many people saw this coming.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#15
post #9
post #6

The non-professional side of Organic Chemistry is one place where I think AI would really shine. Feels complex like solving a Rubik's cube to write down synthesis steps but it is all a sequence of memorized tricks. Do Cannizaro if you want this, Bergmann to do that. But the synthesis plan is only 10% of the actual work. The gap between writing down the synthesis step and actually doing it is also extremely large. Eve…

> Even if you get the right molecule, it might be the wrong way around or just clump up into a useless mess. Sounds a lot like vibe coding lol

Modern biochemistry (so far) IS vibe coding lol. You mostly have vibes on how the chemistry should work, based on (very strong) natural evidence coupled with theoretical development and lab studies. Then you mix and match, goading bacteria and praying that they produce what you want in good measure. Then you take their secretions and run chromatography studies on them to check if that's what you actually want, or whether it's just some random bullshit. If it's the latter, you have to toss that out and start all over again.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it should be outright banned, automated intelligence is like a gun, hammer, knife, nuclear warhead, etc.

I see that intelligence itself is a tool, but that doesn't mean I want an automated gun, automated hammer, automated nuclear warhead, etc.

You may not want them, but the NRA certainly wants that you want them.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#17
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see that intelligence itself is a tool, but that doesn't mean I want an automated gun, automated hammer, automated nuclear warhead, etc.

You may not want them, but the NRA certainly wants that you want them.

In the future perhaps it will mean "Neural Rifle Automaton"

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#18
I feel like chemistry is one thing that current models will struggle with for the next while, because it's inherently 3D. In the micro world, shape = function. Maybe enough textual patterns will let it under chemistry, but like how do you describe a hydrogen shift without showing how it moves positions and rebalances bonds?

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#19
post #9
post #6

The non-professional side of Organic Chemistry is one place where I think AI would really shine. Feels complex like solving a Rubik's cube to write down synthesis steps but it is all a sequence of memorized tricks. Do Cannizaro if you want this, Bergmann to do that. But the synthesis plan is only 10% of the actual work. The gap between writing down the synthesis step and actually doing it is also extremely large. Eve…

> Even if you get the right molecule, it might be the wrong way around or just clump up into a useless mess. Sounds a lot like vibe coding lol

At least vibe coding can only explode in your face metaphorically.

Re: Making Claude a Chemist

#20
post #6

The non-professional side of Organic Chemistry is one place where I think AI would really shine. Feels complex like solving a Rubik's cube to write down synthesis steps but it is all a sequence of memorized tricks. Do Cannizaro if you want this, Bergmann to do that. But the synthesis plan is only 10% of the actual work. The gap between writing down the synthesis step and actually doing it is also extremely large. Eve…

> Feels complex like solving a Rubik's cube to write down synthesis steps but it is all a sequence of memorized tricks. Do Cannizaro if you want this, Bergmann to do that.

I remember two years ago, when I actually got into using graph data structures, wondering if maybe the "space" of available reactions for any given starter and target molecules could be mapped as a graph, with intermediates as nodes and reactions as weighted directed edges, so synthesis becomes pathfinding through chemical space.

Turns out, it’s a thing! [^0]

Edit: Makes you wonder how much interesting stuff is sitting in plain sight, waiting for someone with the right cross-domain awareness / knowledge / whatever to notice it.

[0]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9574932/

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