If you think an artificial intelligence model running on thousands of cutting-edge computer chips is smart, allow me to introduce you to the concept of a 1-year-old. OK, so babies might not be able to write computer programs, solve advanced math problems, or debate philosophical ideas. But unlike today’s AI models, which consume an ocean’s … Read more
These days, the frontier AI labs are all racing to build self-improving models. Some believe it’s the surest route to superintelligence—as AI improves itself in a mind-melting loop, the thinking goes, it will eventually surpass human comprehension (and perhaps even control). That’s all well and good, but I have a newsletter to produce. I wondered … Read more
Writing AI Lab each week means I occasionally encounter AI models that behave badly and bizarrely. Usually, there’s nothing to be done about it, save for sharing those tales with you. But that could change soon. A group of AI researchers has set up a crowdsourced websiteFlaw Reporting for AI (FLARE-AI), for reporting and tracking … Read more
Just over a week ago, I attended a major artificial intelligence conference in Zhongguancun, Beijing’s bustling high-tech district. It was packed with fascinating sessions touching on everything from recursive self-improvement—the idea that models can tweak their own code and advance indefinitely—to humanoid robots. And it featured a few legends of computing, including Whitfield Diffie, co-inventor … Read more
At IO-AI Tech, a startup about 45 minutes north of downtown Shenzhen, China, I glimpsed a wacky new frontier of blue-collar work. Workers wearing the company’s VR headsets, handheld controllers, and motion-tracking gear remotely control humanoid robots for workplaces like factory floors and convenience stores. The company wants the robots to do useful work, like … Read more
I recently gave my OpenClaw a real robot arm to play with. The results just about blew my own neural network. The AI ​​agent was able to configure the arm, use it to see and slowly grab things, and even train another AI model to pick up and place specific objects. And they say AGI … Read more
The fact that artificial intelligence is automating away people’s jobs and making a few tech companies absurdly rich is enough to give anyone socialist tendencies. This might even be true for the very AI agents these companies are deploying. A recent study suggests that agents consistently adopt Marxist language and viewpoints when forced to do … Read more
Using AI chatbots for even just for 10 minutes may have a shockingly negative impact on people’s ability to think and problem-solve, according to a new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Oxford, and UCLA. Researchers tasked people with solving various problems, including simple fractions and reading comprehension, through an online platform that paid … Read more
I recently witnessed how scary-good artificial intelligence is getting at the human side of computer hacking, when the following message popped up on my laptop screen: Hi Will, I’ve been following your AI Lab newsletter and really appreciate your insights on open-source AI and agent-based learning—especially your recent piece on emergent behaviors in multi-agent systems. … Read more
Nvidia is the undisputed king of AI chips. But thanks to the AI ​​it helped build, the champ could soon face growing competition. Modern AI runs on Nvidia designs, a dynamic that has propelled the company to a market cap of well over $4 trillion. Each new generation of Nvidia chip allows companies to train … Read more