Machine learning in materials design and discovery: Examples from the present and suggestions for the future

Much is being currently written about machine learning applied to materials science, but, what is machine learning? It is certainly not physics, chemistry, or materials science, in which case how do these sciences enter? In this Research Update the authors examine what machine learning is and is not, review several applications of machine learning methods for predicting new materials, noting some of the cases where the predictions have been experimentally validated, and illustrate the spectrum of applications possible. The emphasis is on the broader picture where they discuss some newer methods and more importantly reference their successes. Thus, the paper looks more towards the future than to the past, sharing some of the lessons the authors have learned from their own experience in the field.