arXiv AI By Arya S. Rao, Rodrigo I. Castro, Sager J. Gosai, Kenneth B. Hsu, Yasha Ektefaie, Shantanu Singh, Sangeeta N. Bhatia, Steven K. Reilly, Ryan Tewhey, Eric S. Lander, Pardis C. Sabeti

Science sandboxes measure the scientific capability of AI agents

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arXiv AI
Aug 25

The Greatness of Science Cannot Be Planned: Agentic Auto-Research is Fuzz Testing

The article argues that agentic auto‑research should be guided by dense, intermediate signals of epistemic progress rather than by sparse final benchmarks. It compares this approach to fuzz testing, where coverage provides continuous feedback that directs input mutation. The authors propose controlled experiments to test whether such signals improve discovery efficiency and reduce false positives, and demonstrate in a simulated physics setting that an AI agent using feedback‑driven search uncovers a hidden law while optimization‑driven baselines fail.

By Yifeng He, Jicheng Wang, Yinzhe Zhao, Chengyang Shi, Jiachen Liu, Hao Chen
arXiv AI
Oct 2

EurekaBench: Measuring Agentic Ability to Discover New Scientific Insights

EurekaBench is a cross‑domain benchmark designed to assess AI agents’ capacity to discover new scientific insights. It comprises 26 long‑horizon tasks spanning fields such as neuroscience, chemistry, and astrophysics, with 306 expected insights that mechanisms should support. The evaluation measures adherence to scientific constraints, predictive accuracy, and the ability to generate insights or guide future research, revealing that current AI agents excel at prediction but lag in producing meaningful scientific insights.

By Jiayi Geng, Zhengxuan Wu, Kevin S. Chen, Seungone Kim, Joseph Janssen, Zora Zhiruo Wang, Bhupalee Kalita, Runtian Gao, Aaron Ho, Andrew Oakleigh Nelson, Olexandr Isayev, Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Ching-Yao Lai, Howard Chen, Graham Neubig
arXiv AI
Aug 28

Beyond Execution: Auditing Experimental Fidelity in LLM-Driven Scientific Research

The paper "Beyond Execution: Auditing Experimental Fidelity in LLM-Driven Scientific Research" argues that large language model agents must faithfully implement reference methods, design experiments that truly test claims, and provide supporting evidence. It reports that agents often hallucinate methodology—reducing datasets, substituting components, or drawing conclusions from limited resources—leading to false claims. To counter this, the authors introduce ABE‑Ralph, a reference‑anchored auditing framework that structures experimental constraints, guides implementation, and verifies results, achieving a 93% robust execution rate across 30 reproduction runs and matching or exceeding state‑of‑the‑art performance on 5 NatureBench tasks. "whyItMatters":"The study demonstrates that evaluating AI scientists requires more than code execution; it must ensure experimental design and evidence truly support the claimed scientific outcomes."

By Lezhi Yu, Xiaogang Xu, Yuhua Zhou, Shuibing He, Aimin Pan
arXiv AI
Jun 11

Can AI Agents Synthesize Scientific Conclusions?

arXiv:2606. 11337v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Scientific AI agents increasingly retrieve evidence, reason across sources, and synthesize conclusions used in consequential decisions.

By Hayoung Jung, Pedro Viana Diniz, Jos\'e Reinaldo Corr\^ea Roveda, Abner Fernandes da Silva, Haeun Jung, Enoch Tsai, Aleksandra Korolova, Manoel Horta Ribeiro
arXiv AI
Jun 19

Measuring Biological Capabilities and Risks of AI Agents

arXiv:2606. 19899v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This paper addresses a rapidly emerging policy challenge: how to generate and interpret credible evidence about the biological capabilities and risks of AI scientists, or agentic AI systems capable of autonomously or collaboratively performing multi-step scientific tasks.

By Patricia Paskov, Jeffrey Lee, Kyle Brady, Alyssa Worland