World’s first AI-created flu vaccine set for trial

A “turbocharged” flu vaccine created by a computer with artificial intelligence in South Australia is set to undergo trial in the United States.

Flinders University Professor, Nikolai Petrovsky told the ABC that the computer running a program called Sam invented the new drug on its own, in what he claimed was a world first.

“It [Sam] has theoretical ability to acquire knowledge and then make new ideas,” Professor Petrovsky said.

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“Obviously you have to train it or teach it.

“We took existing drugs that we know work, we took examples of drugs that don’t work or have failed.

“We essentially showed all of that to the AI program called Sam and then Sam came up with its own suggestion of what might be an effective adjuvant, which we then took and tested, and sure enough, it worked.”

Professor Petrovsky said a 12-month clinical trial of the vaccine was about to get underway in the US.

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