This paper studies machine learning paradigms from the point of view of human cognition. Indeed, conceptions in both mahine learning and human learning evolved from a passive to an active conception of learning. Our objective is to provide an interaction protocol suited to both humans and machines, to eable assisting human discoveries by learning machines. We identify the limitations of common machine learning paradigms in the context of scientific discovery, and we propose an extension inspired by game theory and multi-agent systems. We present individual cognitive aspects of this protocol as well as social considerations, and we relate encouraging results concerning a game implementing it.