Abstract

We have recently reported several human/computer discoveries in biology, chemistry and physics that have appeared in domain science journals. One may ask what accounts for these findings, e.g., whether they share a common pattern. My conclusion is that each finding involves a new representation of the scientific task: the problem spaces searched were unlike previous task problem spaces. Such new representations need not be wholly new to the history of science; rather, they can draw on useful representational pieces from elsewhere in natural or computer science. This account contrasts with earlier explanations of machine discovery based on the expert-systems view. My analysis also suggests a broader potential role for (AI) computer scientists in the practice of natural science.

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