A new system helps labs determine the most efficient way to produce target molecules by utilising the strengths of humans and robots

By Matthew Sparkes

Chemists have devised a new system to help robots and humans collaborate more efficiently in labs by recognising the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Automation is a growing feature of chemistry labs, taking over many of the repetitive, complex and time-consuming tasks required to run experiments and measure results. In “self-driving laboratories”, robots pour, mix, distil and titrate chemicals, while an artificial intelligence pores through data and highlights interesting experimental avenues.

Alán Aspuru-Guzik at the University of Toronto in Canada and …