CAS SciFinder Enhances Scientific Discovery with Advanced AI
CAS SciFinder, a key platform for scientific search and insights, is introducing new AI-powered features to assist scientists in their research. CAS, part of the American Chemical Society and focused on scientific knowledge management, began rolling out these updates recently, with full availability expected within two months.
Addressing User Needs with AI
Elizabeth Altizer, product manager for SciFinder at CAS, and her team gathered user feedback to identify challenges in the existing platform. The updates include:
- SearchSense: An AI-driven search engine designed to maximize access to available scientific content.
- Connection Assistance: Tools to help users draw links across intellectual property and prior art for smoother research navigation.
- Interactive Retro Synthesis: A feature to assist in planning research strategies.
- Summaries: AI-generated overviews that simplify complex research findings.
Altizer emphasizes that the main goal is to boost user efficiency by helping scientists find information quickly and identify new connections.
Ensuring AI Accuracy for Scientists
Developing AI tools that support scientific inquiry requires precision. A recent survey highlighted concerns about AI inaccuracies when answering scientific questions. To address this, CAS trained its AI on a controlled dataset composed of high-quality scientific information.
Tim Wahlberg, chief product officer at CAS, notes, "Scientific information is diverse and complex, making it challenging for common AI tools to interpret accurately. By applying AI to well-structured data from the CAS Content Collection and involving scientists in verification, we created an AI approach that provides reliable answers."
Improving Research Workflow
With these enhancements, CAS SciFinder aims to streamline the research process so scientists can spend more time in the lab. Michael Dennis, vice president and chief science officer at CAS, points out, "CAS SciFinder is doing all of the hard work so you don’t have to."
These updates represent a practical step forward for scientific professionals seeking efficient access to trustworthy information and research planning tools.
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