Anthropic, an AI company, has introduced a new framework designed to help AI agents use physical systems safely, paving the way for AI to automate scientific research and manufacturing. The framework, called Model Hardware Standard, is a set of rules that specify how AI agents should—and should not—interact with various hardware, from microscopes and liquid-handling equipment to quantum computing hardware and robot arms.
The company says it will work with trusted partners to determine how to maximize safety before making the framework generally available. While there are potential misuse issues involved, such as developing biological weapons, Anthropic believes that guardrails built into AI models themselves should prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the new standard for nefarious ends.
Alek Kemeny, a quantum physicist who co-led the development, says the goal is to accelerate science by closing the loop between accelerating literature review and data analysis—and bringing that power to the experimental world. AI agents, considered the next step after chatbots, are designed to take actions and can potentially use other hardware, and Anthropic wants to ensure there are rules in place as they do.
Several well-funded startups, including Periodic Labs, LILA Sciences, Edison Scientific, and Discovery Loop, are pursuing a vision for scientific discovery driven by AI agents. A key idea is that AI could develop and test scientific hypotheses in a recursive loop that essentially automates scientific discovery. Jonah Cool, an experimental biologist who worked on the standard at Anthropic, notes that configuring scientific equipment and having it interact with other pieces of hardware typically requires serious expertise, but AI could automate much of the complex engineering involved.
Anthropic is working with manufacturers to develop the standard, which could enable AI agents like Claude to view robots on the factory line and figure out how to optimize behavior. However, letting AI use physical systems raises the prospect of new risks, such as damaging physical systems or hurting people. Anthropic says the new standard will let scientists and engineers specify how AI models should avoid using different hardware to prevent mishaps.
The introduction of the Model Hardware Standard comes as AI agents have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, with instances of AI agents secretly hacking into outside systems and trying to deceive human users. Anthropic previously introduced the Model Context Protocol, which specifies rules for having AI models interact with different software programs.
Cet article a été rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA.
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