AI + Life Sciences: Why the Future Needs Both Human Brains and Wet Labs

In this episode, I speak with Sam Scarpino, Director of AI and Life Sciences at Northeastern University's Institute for Experiential AI and Professor of Public Health and Health Sciences. With a background spanning evolutionary biology, pandemic response during H1N1, and pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation, Sam offers a distinctive perspective on artificial intelligence in the life sciences.We discuss the fundamental limitations of AI in biological systems, the irreplaceable role of wet lab experimentation, and how human-AI collaboration can address challenges from rural oncology access to rare disease drug development. Sam also shares his views on why current debates around AGI distract from the urgent work of building responsible AI tools today.