“The public image of science is coolly analytic. Less visibly, the early stages of discovery can teem with hunches and wild guesswork. ‘Anything goes’ is how Paul Feyerabend, a philosopher of science, once characterized the free-for-all.

Now, A.I. hallucinations are reinvigorating the creative side of science. They speed the process by which scientists and inventors dream up new ideas and test them to see if reality concurs. It’s the scientific method — only supercharged. What once took years can now be done in days, hours and minutes. In some cases, the accelerated cycles of inquiry help scientists open new frontiers.

‘We’re exploring,’ said James J. Collins, an M.I.T. professor who recently praised hallucinations for speeding his research into novel antibiotics. ‘We’re asking the models to come up with completely new molecules.'”

From New York Times.