LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – Beyond the vast green valley of northern New Mexico, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are at the forefront of what could be the next technological shift. 

“We’re seeing advances that we would not have expected to see in 20 years or 50 years in some cases,” said LANL’s AI Office Council Director, Jason Pruet. 

More than 100 projects at the laboratory are utilizing artificial intelligence. 

“We’re using it to better predict ocean currents and the development of ice in the ocean,” said Pruet. “There are cases where we’re partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs to use it for improving mental health.”

The lab has been working on AI since the very first computer in 1950, when the laboratory was trying to teach it to play chess.

“Once that potential became clear, we realized along with many others in the world that this would be a new foundation for progress in science and technology,” Pruet said. 

With recent moves to regulate and safeguard the technology, the laboratory established a new artificial intelligence council. 

“The AI council is comprised of a very diverse set of people with different perspectives and different skills from across the laboratory,” said Pruet. “It was stood up because as we’re trying to make the decisions we need to make for this new AI era, we need very complicated set of institutional investments. And so they with their diverse perspectives are giving us the insights needed to wisely navigate into that future.”

Pruet explains why this new council is vital to the laboratory.

“It has the potential to qualitatively advance health to prevent the next pandemic. It has the potential to unlock new sources of energy to make our present grids more efficient for carbon sequestration that would advance the health of the planet, and broadly for global security,” said Pruet.