112. The Baked-In Future of Science: Nick Edwards on Potato AI’s Quest to Become Your AI Scientist

Erum and Karl have an incredible chat with Nick Edwards, the innovative mind behind Potato AI. Nick goes into the inspiration behind the platform's unique name, rooted in childhood curiosity and scientific wonder, and shares his journey from neuroscience research to building a groundbreaking tool aimed at accelerating scientific discovery. He explains how Potato tackles the overwhelming deluge of scientific literature and the reproducibility crisis using AI to structure and analyze data in transformative ways. With stories from his own career, a stint in consulting, and running his podcast "Once a Scientist," Nick discusses the future of AI, science, and collaboration. This episode has amazing insights into how technology is reshaping the very fabric of research. Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and interview the leaders and influencers changing the world by growing everything. Biology is the oldest technology. And it can be engineered. What are we growing? Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.messaginglab.com/groweverything⁠⁠⁠⁠ Chapters: 00:00:00 - Potatoes, Balloons, and a DIY Lab Setup 00:04:56 - Reproducibility Crisis: 70% of Research in Question 00:06:40 - Meet Nick Edwards: The Potato Visionary 00:10:00 - Organizing Scientific Chaos: How AI Helps 00:14:47 - AI Research Assistant vs. AI Scientist: The Journey 00:20:09 - From Neuroscience to Entrepreneurship: A Scientist’s Leap 00:25:00 - Biopharma Meets Bioindustrials: Bridging Two Worlds 00:29:27 - Liquid Handlers and Shared Protocols: Optimizing Biotech 00:35:13 - Multimodality and the AI Scientist Dream 00:39:04 - Citizen Scientists and Accessible AI Tools 00:45:00 - The Next Scientific Revolution: AI and Decentralized Science Episode Links: Potato AI Once A Scientist Podcast Merck Digital Science Studio Wiley Elsevier Ginkgo Bioworks Topics Covered: Research, AI research assistant, AI Scientist, Biotech, Lab Automation, Reproducibility Have a question or comment? Message us here: Text or Call (804) 505-5553 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠  / ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠Grow Everything⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: [email protected] Music by: Nihilore Production by: Amplafy Media