AlphaFold - A Personal Perspective on the Impact of Machine Learning

I outline how over my career as a protein scientist Machine Learning has impacted my area of science and one of my pastimes, chess, where there are some interesting parallels. In 1968, modelling of three-dimensional structures was initiated based on a known structure as a template, the problem of the pathway of protein folding was posed and bets were taken in the emerging field of Machine Learning on whether computers could outplay humans at chess. Half a century later, Machine Learning has progressed from using computational power combined with human knowledge in solving problems to playing chess without human knowledge being used, where it has produced novel strategies. Protein structures are being solved by Machine Learning based on human-derived knowledge but without templates. There is much promise that programs like AlphaFold based on Machine Learning will be powerful tools for designing entirely novel protein folds and new activities. But, will they produce novel ideas on protein folding pathways and provide new insights into the principles that govern folds?