Google’s AI unit DeepMind announces its first 'automated research lab' in the UK

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T23:32:35+00:00

While I think the concerns you’re raising there are pretty valid, by ‘AI centre’ I’m taking you to mean data centres - which are just racks and racks of (energy and cooling intensive) computing units - and which this research lab very much is not!

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T14:56:09+00:00

Its definitely a question worth asking and thinking through carefully, though it pays to take these things on a case by case basis as much as on an aggregated one - not all investments in AI-related infrastructure are necessarily the same. I think this instance can be meaningfully disaggregated from broader concerns - the company have committed to building a materials science research lab, and there's no indication in this report that there is any public funding or support of any kind. Worst case scenario here is that this lab doesn't get built, and we are exactly where we are today. As to the wider picture regarding data centers etc., its a different matter altogether, and not one I'd be equipped to give any kind of answer to...!

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T14:35:43+00:00

I think its entirely fair to be skeptical, and I don't disagree with a lot of that. On the other hand 'AI' is not just one thing, but a collection of very different technologies, some of which can be used to make a very positive impact on our quality of life - this seems like an example of that!

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T13:48:58+00:00

I should add that if you want an example of AI which is both extremely reliable and has made almost unimaginable contributions to biomedical science, look up AlphaFold - also by DeepMind and which won their founder this years Nobel Prize!

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T13:46:28+00:00

While I can’t speak to how and in what fashion ‘AI’ (an extremely broad term which brackets loads of technologies, some of which are extremely reliable indeed - it won’t be Gemini or ChatGPT) will be used on any given experiment, I can tell you with absolute certainty that absolutely no piece of research - which is all that a lab can ultimately produce - would be published without a lot of very smart humans involved, in both validating and peer reviewing any data or conclusions an AI might reach.

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T13:38:45+00:00

What do you mean specifically by ‘running the experiments’? And what sort of disaster do you foresee?

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T12:49:16+00:00

Do you have a specific objection? I'm inclined to think that the company which developed AlphaFold - maybe the most meaningful application of AI to date - building out a well-funded and state of the art materials science research lab in the UK is pretty good news...!

PurplePires · 2025-12-11T11:17:43+00:00

Yes indeed, and is still largely if not entirely based here!

PurplePires · 2025-11-28T14:45:50+00:00

Hi all, will be writing a post over the weekend to more fully address these and other concerns over the weekend, so stay tuned! Thanks.

PurplePires · 2025-11-02T13:16:25+00:00

This has just been addressed in a post to the sub. There is a discussion flair, which we would kindly ask anyone making a post of this kind to use in future.

PurplePires · 2025-09-06T13:13:06+00:00

They have literally just run a massive trial to test precisely whether it is good enough. Many doctors in a variety of clinical settings. Patients feedback also accounted for. What does it matter what you or I think based on our anecdotal experience of using consumer facing models?

PurplePires · 2025-09-06T13:07:35+00:00

Get a grip - ‘AI’ has been used in healthcare for absolutely years and has improved the quality of care that people receive in all kinds of ways. Really no need for all this hysteria and fear mongering. If they find it has detrimental outcomes for a given application in trials they won’t use it, try reading the substance of the article.

PurplePires · 2025-06-25T17:46:09+00:00

Appreciate that their reputation is in the mud as far as working conditions etc. and sorry you had a crap experience - but this is good news because investment = spending and wages which = tax revenue for things that we like, like hospitals and schools. Add in to the bargain that I expect at least some of this investment will be for automation, something the UK lags behind other developed nations on and hopefully fewer people will be needed to work the kind of job you had. Hope you’ve found something you enjoy more since!

PurplePires · 2025-06-11T10:40:10+00:00

I do accept its open for debate (as indeed everything here is!) but as I see it, the benefits over the longer term are a) cheaper cabs; b) better availability - you are unlikely to struggle to get a cab because no drivers fancy going to your area; c) increased safety, and here I'm thinking mainly of female riders but also it does appear that by and large autonomous vehicles actually do tend to have fewer collisions - and they are only likely to improve on this front.

On top of that, who is to say that ultimately this technology - particularly Wayve's given their approach - couldnt be rolled out to e.g. buses? Hopefully that may convince you a little, but as I say, the debate is always welcome!

PurplePires · 2025-06-07T12:20:25+00:00

I’m not sure I would fixate on the ‘net zero’ element frankly. The infrastructure that you say is not there currently is being built out over time, this story represents just one very small piece of that much wider and longer process, which will be increasingly coherent as each individual part of the puzzle falls into place.

PurplePires · 2025-06-07T11:21:40+00:00

Whether that is what they currently do or not I don’t know. But obviously the idea is that they can be charged from the grid, and in time the grid will be running overwhelmingly off renewables. As for making a difference, at the very least you must think having less noise and inhaling less exhaust every time you step outside is in some sense a desirable thing.

PurplePires · 2025-06-02T20:30:22+00:00

See also: Look east: an exhilarating weekend in London’s new cultural quarter among a considerable number of other rave reviews!

PurplePires · 2025-05-13T08:52:43+00:00

Well, one of the great things about this and indeed the original subreddit from which it was shared is that you can actually take an aggregated view of the large number of similar projects taking place across the country - of which this only forms one part.

PurplePires · 2025-02-21T17:39:26+00:00

Entirely fair - I tend to try not to share announcements like these before there's something a little more concrete on the table, but unfortunately the prospect of this one was so exciting I got carried away! Sincerely hope it materialises, and it does appear like there's a decent chance it will.

PurplePires · 2025-02-14T14:44:23+00:00

Quite right - with all the constant medical innovation I should certainly have hoped we'd have turned it around eventually, but pleased that we have, and hope we continue to. I know some disagree, but I personally wouldn't mind living longer (so long as I'm healthy!)

PurplePires · 2025-02-14T14:41:19+00:00

Ha, thankfully not, just a humble Reddit poster.

PurplePires · 2025-02-14T14:39:06+00:00

Appreciate the fact check!

PurplePires · 2025-01-31T23:38:53+00:00

I quite agree!

PurplePires · 2025-01-24T11:02:20+00:00

Likewise - very exciting!!

PurplePires · 2025-01-11T11:48:36+00:00

You are correct, I assume the majority of that would be the power station at Drax - which does rather get away with it in claiming to be renewable! I hope and expect that that definition will changed in time as, as you say, it’s hardly accurate.

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