Nobel Prize‑winning chemist Omar Yaghi hailed the disruptive power of artificial intelligence (AI) at the 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai, calling it the most exciting era yet for scientific research.
Yghi highlighted that rapid advances in the technology mean anyone now has the potential to become a scientist.
Speaking to China Central Television, Yaghi stressed AI's role in bridging different fields, enabling people to learn faster and better while traversing various domains.
"I predict that in the future, to do chemistry and material science and engineering, you do not have to be well versed in those fields that you could based on these work on these models. You just have to learn how to find the facts about those fields. There has never been a better time to do science than now and science is one of the very, very few disciplines where one discovery could be made by anyone. They can make that discovery and they can transform the world. I can't imagine why anybody does not want to be a scientist," he said.
Yaghi noted that with the help of AI, the efficiency of research and development has been greatly improved. However, he emphasized that the art of asking good questions and finding useful information becomes ever more important when AI can deliver answers in an instant.
"AI although it gives you lots of answers, but what changes is the difficulty. It means that in a world where you have lots of answers, I call it the world of abundance, what kind of question you ask becomes really important. What kind of question you ask has always been important, but never more important than it is today. What question do you select to spend your life trying to answer? This becomes really, really important," said Yaghi.
Yaghi also weighed in on China's AI rise, saying Chinese AI technology and capability is one of the best or maybe the best in the world. He attributed this success to China's long-term investment in basic science, a move he said is rarely taken elsewhere.
"Chinese AI technology and capability is one of the best, maybe the best in the world. It's a result of years of investment into basic science and as President Xi mentioned in one of his speeches, basic science is the source of a lot of innovations, endless innovations, and this is something we can't find in many other countries. The emphasis on basic research is not just about innovation, but in fact, basic research is going into a world of unknown and trying to understand and learn. Well, that's the bravest thing that anybody can do, but it's also the hardest. And the result of that is not just innovation, but you learn how to navigate chaos and the unknown, and you learn how to solve problems in ways that nobody has ever thought," he said.
The 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance concluded on Monday in Shanghai, having brought together official representatives, business leaders, scholars and researchers from more than 100 countries and international organizations.
AI ushers in most exciting era for science, opens door for all to become scientists: expert
