It's a machine's world: How automation changes chemical synthesis

When talking about automation and artificial intelligence we often think about computers and other high-tec machines. Some level of automation is common place in many industries and areas of our everyday lives from self-driving cars to drone deliveries and automated warehouses. Can chemical synthesis join in and move towards automated chemical synthesis, changing the way of how we do synthesis for over 100 years already? Automated chemical synthesis using machine learning algorithms is a rapidly growing field of research. While automation is by definition a chemical engineering task, its application becomes more and more a core activity in fundamental chemical synthesis.