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Peter Müllner, Distinguished Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University

From early cars to generative AI, new technologies create demand for specialized materials

The development of new computing technologies drives the demand for improved materials. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

Generative artificial intelligence has become widely accepted as a tool that increases productivity. Yet the technology is far from mature. Large language models advance rapidly from one generation to the next, and experts can only speculate how AI will affect the workforce and peoples’ daily lives.

As a materials scientist, I am interested in how materials and the technologies that derive from them affect society. AI is one example of a technology driving global change – particularly through its demand for materials and rare minerals.

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