October 2026
Who Validates AI-generated Discovery?
After travelling to Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen, Science Salon – the Lisbon Council’s flagship initiative to promote the responsible uptake of AI in science, health, energy and beyond – made its next stop in Dublin.
In parallel with the international AI summit organised by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026, the Lisbon Council convened a High-Level Working Breakfast on ‘When AI Becomes the Co-Scientist: Who Validates Discovery?’ The discussion brought together leading voices from science, academia, industry and policymaking to explore AI-generated discoveries and delve into the debate about how these new findings are validated and by whom.
Opening the conversation were Conor Griffin, AI policy researcher at Google DeepMind, and Mark Thomson, director-general, European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). Joining the discussion were also Patrick Courtney, member of the board of directors, Standardization in Lab Automation (SiLA Standard); Fabrizio Gagliardi, head, international partnership office, Barcelona Supercomputing Center; Siyuan Guo, AI scientist, Prior Labs; Natalie Harrower, executive director, Canadian Research Data Centre Network; Kourosh Malek, CEO, ViMi Labs GmbH, Joel Martin, chief digital research officer, chief science officer, National Research Centre, director, Canadian AI Safety Institute; Silke Obst, head of unit, European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA); Kate Robson Brown, vice-president for research, innovation and impact, University College Dublin; Martin Spolc, director, directorate-general for research and innovation, European Commission; and Liviu Știrbăț, head of unit for AI in science and critical technologies, directorate-general for research and innovation, European Commission, among others.