Hey, chatbot, can you synthesize this molecule?

A little over a year ago, the experimental chatbot ChatGPT unleashed a frenzy with its prowess for humanlike conversations and creativity. It quickly became a go-to for helping with homework and writing speeches. Scientists have used it to cowrite scientific papers, grant proposals, and computer code. OpenAI created ChatGPT using a generative pretrained transformer (GPT), a type of computer algorithm called a large language model (LLM). The LLM that OpenAI based ChatGPT on has been evolving to become even more humanlike. GPT-4, the iteration OpenAI released last March, made a giant leap over GPT-3. And scientists are starting to put the technology's abilities to use for chemistry and materials research. In December, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) chemical scientist and engineer Gabe Gomes and his colleagues reported an artificial intelligence agent dubbed Coscientist that showcases the power of LLMs for chemistry research ( Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06792-0 ). Users can give