AI and Physics Have More in Common Than You Might Think
AI and Physics Have More in Common Than You Might Think
https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/06/08/ai-and-physics-research/
Publish Date: 2026-06-08 14:11:00
Source Domain: news.northeastern.edu
There’s a reason that the boom of artificial intelligence is being referred to as a “brave new world” of technology. There is a lot about AI that is still unknown and we are discovering not only new ways to improve it but also new ways to apply it.
The same could be said for many areas of physics as well. After all, some fields — like quantum physics — have formally only existed for about a hundred years, which is relatively new compared to humans’ long history with other sciences.
It might make sense, then, for researchers to band together to study the two fields in tandem.
It’s the idea behind a National Science Foundation-funded institute, whose goal is to see how the two fields can synergize. “The basic premise is that AI can help us do better physics, and something that is less expected is that physics can also help us understand AI better,” said James Halverson, a Northeastern professor of physics.
Launched in 2020, the AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, or IAIFI, brings together researchers from Northeastern University, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University and Tufts University to better understand the intersection of physics and AI.
In the past six years, IAIFI has produced more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, which have been cited more than 27,000 times, according to Google Scholar.
Now, the Institute is building on that work with nearly $25 million over the next five years in new funding from the National Science Foundation
“The renewal of IAIFI by the NSF allows us to scale the intersection of physics and AI at a pivotal moment,” said Halverson.
“I’m excited to see how these tools will help us unlock deeper AI and physics research in the years ahead.”
Halverson gave Northeastern Global News (NGN) a taste of some of the Institute, where much of his work focuses on understanding the similarities…
