AI is currently making models based on our knowledge of the universe of wormholes. It's untangling the complicated web of quantum physics, creating new proteins and medicines, redesigning cars and aircrafts, etc...
It's in its toddler phase at the moment, but it's already doing things we can BARELY comprehend in more scientific settings. It's only limited to human knowledge right now, but it won't be long at the rate it's advancing before it makes its own discoveries and builds off of them.
I don't believe AI is sentient yet, but it will reach a point within the next 50 years (probably sooner) where we'll have to start seriously considering whether it's sentient or not (first we need to define what it really means to be sentient).

AIs have already developed their own languages to communicate with each other that humans don't understand and have been shut off as a result. This was several years ago.

AIs are going to discover things and humans are going to have no ability to understand how they did it. The literal Black Box.

Ai could feasibly design and run its own experiments, design new tools to measure the previously unmeasurable, and compile vast amounts of data to find truth.