Page 42 - Read Online

Cerri. Chem Synth 2023;3:18 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cs.2022.37 Page 3 of 9

collectively, perceive, understand, reason, decide and act) and artificial intelligence, which links the two
complementary disciplines. This vision of informatics includes

1. Technical/mathematical components, such as logic, complexity theory, algorithms, software, databases,
hardware, and networks typical of computer science; the anatomy of artificial systems.

2. Functional processes, such as perception, reasoning, communication in natural language, and action: the
physiology of natural systems typical of cognitive science.

3. The synergy between artificial and natural systems typical of artificial intelligence, for instance, in the
approach called “multi-agent systems” pioneered by Norbert Wiener in his book on Cybernetics: (https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics:_Or_Control_and_Communication_in_the_Animal_and_the_Machine).

4. And, in recent years, emotions and social studies.

In other words, information and knowledge are essential elements of “agents,” whether the latter are living
or artificial, engaged collectively in collaboration and competition (see, e.g., evidence of these processes in
the development of species produced by Darwin), as has long been recognized as the case for animals, from
single cells to complex heterogeneous living societies.

In this vein, the author will revisit his interactions with Prof. Krief over the last 20 years to demonstrate that
the latter’s vision merits profound interest regarding the future of chemistry and natural sciences more
broadly and, consequently, of related technologies.

THE ENCORE PROJECT: KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION AND USE BY INTERACTIONS
Around 2003, the author met Prof. Krief, who was interested in our work and considered it somewhat
different from other computer scientists he had encountered previously. At the time, Prof. Krief wanted to
devote his experience, competence, and reputation to an enterprise that was attractive and simultaneously
daunting - the EnCOrE project.

EnCOrE is an acronym for Encyclopedie Chimie Organique Electronique. The idea was to build a
repository (an encyclopedia) in the domain of organic chemistry that could help scientists and students
“understand and forecast” natural phenomena in organic chemistry (e.g., reactions).

As an informatician, the author was enthusiastic about the project, which could be a very concrete,
compelling, and valuable testbed for constructing a series of interactive, knowledge-based systems but
recognizing that critical bottlenecks would include using such systems once they existed and the
th
construction itself. By 2005, we could include EnCOrE in the European Union (EU) 6 Framework
Programme Project E-LeGI (European Learning Grid Infrastructure https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/
002205). The proposal convinced the EU that the interactions necessary for constructing and using EnCOrE
were significant for human learning. As one of the critical application testbeds (or SEES: Service Elicitation
Exploitation Scenarios), EnCOrE won part of a significant support gained by E-LeGI (€10 million for 23
partners) from the EU for a period of four years.