Marin Soljačić, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Biography:
Marin Soljačić is a Professor of Physics at MIT. He is a founder of a few companies, including WiTricity Corporation (2007), Lightelligence (2017) and Axiomatic (2024). His main research interests are in artificial intelligence as well as electromagnetic phenomena, focusing on nanophotonics, non-linear optics, and wireless power transfer. He is a recipient of the Adolph Lomb medal from the Optical Society of America (2005), and the TR35 award of the Technology Review magazine (2006). In 2008, he was awarded a MacArthur fellowship “genius” grant. In 2011 he became a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the World Economic Forum. In 2014, he was awarded Blavatnik National Award. He was a Highly Cited Researcher according to WoS for 2019,2020,2021,2022,2023,2024&2025. In 2023, he was awarded Max Born award of Optica.
Abstract:
Artificial intelligence is beginning to transform the way we do science and engineering—not only by analyzing data, but increasingly by generating hypotheses, designing experiments, and even running them. Photonics plays a dual role in this story: it provides some of the most promising physical platforms for AI hardware, while also serving as a rich testbed for applying AI itself. I will discuss how large language models point toward a future where significant parts of scientific discovery may be automated. I will also highlight how robotics, combined with AI, is moving us closer to self-driving laboratories. While my examples will often come from photonics, the broader message is that these developments foreshadow a profound shift in how science is practiced across disciplines.
Marin Soljačić is a Professor of Physics at MIT. He is a founder of a few companies, including WiTricity Corporation (2007), Lightelligence (2017) and Axiomatic (2024). His main research interests are in artificial intelligence as well as electromagnetic phenomena, focusing on nanophotonics, non-linear optics, and wireless power transfer. He is a recipient of the Adolph Lomb medal from the Optical Society of America (2005), and the TR35 award of the Technology Review magazine (2006). In 2008, he was awarded a MacArthur fellowship “genius” grant. In 2011 he became a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the World Economic Forum. In 2014, he was awarded Blavatnik National Award. He was a Highly Cited Researcher according to WoS for 2019,2020,2021,2022,2023,2024&2025. In 2023, he was awarded Max Born award of Optica.
Abstract:
Artificial intelligence is beginning to transform the way we do science and engineering—not only by analyzing data, but increasingly by generating hypotheses, designing experiments, and even running them. Photonics plays a dual role in this story: it provides some of the most promising physical platforms for AI hardware, while also serving as a rich testbed for applying AI itself. I will discuss how large language models point toward a future where significant parts of scientific discovery may be automated. I will also highlight how robotics, combined with AI, is moving us closer to self-driving laboratories. While my examples will often come from photonics, the broader message is that these developments foreshadow a profound shift in how science is practiced across disciplines.
