Science in 2026: the events to watch for in the coming year

"Research powered by artificial intelligence made leaps this year, and it is here to stay. AI 'agents' that integrate several large language models (LLMs) to carry out complex, multi-step processes are likely to be more widely used, some with little human oversight. The coming year might even bring the first consequential scientific advances made by AI. But heavier use could also expose serious failures in some systems. Researchers have already reported errors that AI agents are prone to, such as the deletion of data."

"Next year will also bring techniques that move beyond LLMs, which are expensive to train. Newer approaches focus on designing small-scale AI models that learn from a limited pool of data and can specialize in solving specific reasoning puzzles. These systems do not generate text, but process mathematical representations of information. This year, one such tiny AI model beat massive LLMs at a logic test."

"The team that treated Muldoon plans to seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to run a clinical trial in Philadelphia that will test gene-editing therapies in more children with rare metabolic disorders. These conditions are caused by variants in seven genes that can be addressed with the same type of gene editing as was used in Muldoon's therapy. Another team hopes to begin a similar trial for genetic disorders of the immune system next year."

AI-powered research made major advances and AI agents that combine multiple LLMs are being used to run complex multi-step processes with limited oversight. Wider AI use could produce consequential scientific advances next year but also expose failures such as data deletion. New approaches move beyond large LLMs toward small specialist models that learn from limited data, process mathematical representations, and can outperform massive LLMs on logic tasks. Personalized gene-editing therapies for children with rare disorders are moving toward clinical trials, expanding from a CRIPSR treatment for a baby with a metabolic mutation. A large UK trial of a blood test that screens for about 50 cancers will report results next year.

Read at Nature