From Kepler to Newton: the Role of Explainable AI in Science Discovery
The research paradigm of the
Observation--Hypothesis--Prediction--Experimentation loop has been practiced by
researchers for years towards scientific discovery. However, with the data
explosion in both mega-scale and milli-scale scientific research, it has been
sometimes very difficult to manually analyze the data and propose new
hypothesis to drive the cycle for scientific discovery.
In this paper, we introduce an Explainable AI-assisted paradigm for science
discovery. The key is to use Explainable AI (XAI) to help derive data or model
interpretations and science discoveries. We show how computational and
data-intensive methodology -- together with experimental and theoretical
methodology -- can be seamlessly integrated for scientific research. To
demonstrate the AI-assisted science discovery process, and to pay our respect
to some of the greatest minds in human history, we show how Kepler's laws of
planetary motion and Newton's law of universal gravitation can be rediscovered
by (explainable) AI based on Tycho Brahe's astronomical observation data, whose
works were leading the scientific revolution in the 16-17th century. This work
also highlights the importance of Explainable AI (as compared to black-box AI)
in science discovery to help humans prevent or better prepare for the possible
technological singularity which may happen in the future.