Can AI Be a Scientist - From Pipettes to Prompts: Reprogramming Science with AI

In this episode of AI on the Hill, host René Bastón sits down with Yaoyu Yang, Founder & CEO of Cypher AI, to explore one of the most fascinating questions of our time: Can AI truly be a scientist? With over a decade at the intersection of biology and software, Yaoyu has built systems that redefine how experiments are designed and executed, from developing Aquarium at the University of Washington to architecting platforms at Ginkgo Bioworks, and now leading Cypher AI, where he’s building the world’s first AI software engineer for scientists. Together, they discuss how human-in-the-loop AI is empowering, not replacing, researchers, what it means to turn pipettes into prompts, and how the future of discovery will depend on collaboration between human creativity and machine intelligence. This episode dives deep into the evolving relationship between humans, AI, and science, and what it means to rethink intelligence itself.