Extent of Automatable Scientific Work

Determine the extent to which large parts of scientists’ daily research work can be automated.

Background

Beyond the feasibility of LLMs assisting in research reasoning, the authors identify uncertainty over how much of scientists’ routine tasks can be automated. Their study examines a structured analytic workflow (Hartree-Fock derivations) to understand which components are amenable to automation.

The paper’s results provide data points on automating specific analytic steps, but the broader quantitative extent of automatable work in scientific practice remains unspecified and is flagged as unclear.

References

While research is typically viewed as a creative activity, the extent to which large parts of the daily work of scientists can be automated is unclear.

— Quantum Many-Body Physics Calculations with Large Language Models  (2403.03154 - Pan et al., 2024) in Main text, third paragraph (following abstract), page 1

An important open question is therefore how effectively existing automated platforms can be generalized beyond commonly demonstrated graphene/hBN systems to the broader range of structurally complex condensed matter systems relevant to progress in quantum technologies, and how much expert intervention remains necessary throughout the complete preparation workflow.

— Progress and Prospect of AI in ARPES Workflow  (2610.10140 - Ekahana et al., 7 Oct 2026) in Section “Automation of sample preparation for ARPES measurements,” concluding paragraph