# When Physics Meets AI: What Truly Lasts?
Sarah Demers, chair of the physics department at Yale University, is thinking carefully about what artificial intelligence means for the future of her field. As large language models become more powerful and widely used, she recognizes that these tools carry both exciting possibilities and genuine risks for scientific research. Her perspective offers a thoughtful look at how physicists might navigate a rapidly changing technological landscape.
On the positive side, AI tools have the potential to accelerate discovery, help researchers process enormous datasets, and open new pathways for solving complex problems in physics. These capabilities could give scientists more time to focus on creative and conceptual work, pushing the boundaries of what we understand about the universe. For a field built on curiosity and deep reasoning, that kind of support could be genuinely valuable.
At the same time, Demers raises important questions about what should not be handed over to machines. Physics has always relied on human intuition, rigorous critical thinking, and the kind of deep understanding that comes from wrestling with hard problems. As AI becomes more embedded in scientific practice, the challenge is preserving those irreplaceable human qualities while taking advantage of what technology has to offer. The core question she asks is a meaningful one for all of science: in an age of AI, what truly endures?