AI is rapidly becoming a fundamental capability for scientific discovery and innovation, transforming how knowledge is generated, experiments are designed and research is conducted. Europe has launched its Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, “to reinforce Europe’s technological and scientific leadership, as well as its competitiveness, through harnessing the potential of AI technologies in science and support scientists to adopt them for their research”, including RAISE programme and some actions to support it (e.g. SCIANCE project). Europe should continue positioning itself at the forefront of AI-enabled research by integrating AI throughout the scientific process, reducing experimentation cycles and accelerating the generation of new knowledge. Priority areas to be considered here are:
- AI as an accelerator for scientific discovery, supporting the different phases of the scientific workflow, including hypothesis generation, simulation, experimentation, analysis and the development of new scientific knowledge.
- AI-accelerated research and innovation cycles, increasing research productivity and enabling faster iteration from ideas and experiments to results, applications and innovation.
- Bridging science, industry, and innovation ecosystems, strengthening knowledge and technology transfer and enabling scientific advances to translate into industrial and societal impact.