Why is it in News?
→ IIT Delhi researchers developed an AI agent capable of autonomously conducting real scientific experiments.
→ AILA directly operates laboratory instruments, marking a shift from assistive to fully autonomous research AI.
Important Points
- Developed by IIT Delhi researchers in collaboration with scientists from Denmark and Germany
- AILA is an AI agent that independently runs scientific experiments
- It analyses results and makes real-time decisions
- Works directly with laboratory instruments unlike earlier AI tools
- Capable of operating Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
- Writes its own experimental code
- Collects and analyses experimental data autonomously
- Entire scientific workflow is automated
- Reduced AFM optimisation time from 24 hours to 7–10 minutes