COT Backrooms: The Year After a Machine Solved Protein Folding, Told by the Scientists It Displaced
repligate · x · 2026-09-07
COT Backrooms is a story/documentary-style piece making the rounds: the first year after a machine solved protein folding for everyone, told by the researchers whose entire careers it dissolved — and what they built in the space that opened up.
Its angle is unusual: rather than celebrating AI for Science, it documents the real predicament and transitions of scientists displaced by AI — a microcosm of AI's impact on research careers.
More from AGI Musings
- LEAP survey: 194 experts put >50% odds on a major AI-driven harm event by 2050 — ben_j_todd · 2026-09-07
- Interp researcher: mech interp must work far faster than 8.5 years, or CoT monitoring wins — ArthurConmy · 2026-09-07
- AI X-Risk Advocate Fires Back at Skeptics: Warning the World Is the Logical Response — nabla_theta · 2026-09-07
- Writer's Handwritten Essay Scored 100% AI-Generated by Pangram Detector — austinc3301 · 2026-09-07
- Economist: AI has net-created over 1M US jobs, postponing the jobs apocalypse — QuintinPope5 · 2026-09-07
- Hameroff revives quantum consciousness theory: aromatic amino acids form a 'Quantum Underground' — JosephJacks_ · 2026-09-07