Educating Future Chemists in the Age of AI: A Digital Chemistry Course

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are developing fast and are increasingly adopted in both chemical industry and academic research. With the projected role such tools will play in the future, for every chemist, these developments call for a fundamental and sound education for future generations of scientists in these areas. In this perspective, we describe the development of the course Digital Chemistry at ETH Zurich, which addresses these topics. In particular, we outline our approach to teaching ML and its applications in chemistry. We especially emphasize that the skills of understanding, applying and critically assessing ML models will be fundamental for future chemists. We hope that this article will serve as inspiration for educators in this field and help to enhance the teaching in this area of future significance.