Making connections: An AI-generated knowledge network of technical terms illustrates trends and reveals new ideas for research in the materials sciences. (Courtesy: Thomas Marwitz, KIT) Large language models (LLMs) could help human scientists identify interesting research topics that have not previously been explored, say scientists at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). By analysing abstracts in materials science publications and mapping connections between different concepts, the model was able to generate predictions for future areas of interest that the KIT team says are more precise than those produced by traditional, rule-based algorithms. The number of research articles published each year is increasing so quickly that it is impossible for scientists to keep up with everything, observes team leader Pascal Friederich , who heads a KIT research group on artificial intelligence for materials sciences.…