A 64-year-old named Mark has spent the last year learning how to control devices like his laptop and phone using a brain implant. And thanks to OpenAI, it’s gotten a whole lot easier to do.

The neurotech startup Synchron said Thursday it’s using OpenAI’s latest artificial intelligence models to build a new generative chat feature for patients with its brain-computer interface, or BCI.

A BCI system decodes brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. Synchron’s model is designed to help people with paralysis communicate and maintain some independence by controlling smartphones, computers and other devices with their thoughts.

As with so much of AI, the concept of reasoning is difficult to define and measure.

The CEO of Google DeepMind has compared the IQ levels of contemporary artificial intelligence (AI) agents to domestic cats. “We’re still not even at cat intelligence yet, as a general system,” remarked Hassabis, answering a question about DeepMind’s progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI). However, research is progressing fast, with some huge cash and compute investments propelling it forward. Some expect it to eclipse human intelligence in the next half-decade.

Demis Hassabis, the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, made the artificial intelligence vs. cat IQ comparison in a public discussion with Tony Blair, one of Britain’s ex-Prime Ministers. The talk was part of the Future of Britain Conference 2024, organized by the Institute for Global Change.

Hassabis highlights that his work is not focused on AI but on AGI. It gives us more perspective on how he is looking at the computer vs cat comparison. Yes, a contemporary AI can sometimes write, paint, or make music in a convincingly human-like fashion, but an ordinary house cat has a lot more general intelligence. “At the moment, we’re far from Human-level intelligence across the board,” admitted Hassabis. “But in certain areas like games playing [AI is] better than the best people in the world.”

Sam Altman to introduce GPT-5?

Rather than living longer, otherwise healthy people who took daily multivitamins were slightly more likely (4%) than non-users to die in the study period, according to researchers.

Researchers reported nearly 165,000 deaths occurring during the follow-up period of the study, out of the initial group of 390,000 participants.

Or maybe just something Wallace and Gromit might jam onto a rocket for a second Grand Day Out.

Adapted from the new book The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge With AI by Ray Kurzweil.

Musk says Grok 2 ‘should exceed current AI on all metrics,’ though Grok 3 is waiting in the wings.

Richie Etwaru is Co-founder & CEO at Mobeus. He’s also a former CTO, CDO & CIO at Fortune 500 firms in Financial Services and Healthcare.

Although generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has been making headlines, another of today’s most tantalizing and controversial topics is the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The idea of AGI —a machine with “the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks,” much like a human—has captured the imaginations of scientists, entrepreneurs and science fiction writers alike. However, despite the allure of creating such a machine, a growing body of evidence suggests that AGI will never be realized.

Human intelligence is fundamentally collective and constantly evolving. As individuals, we contribute to a vast pool of knowledge that grows exponentially over time. This collective intelligence isn’t merely the sum of all human knowledge but a complex, interconnected web of ideas, insights and innovations that continuously build upon one another. I’m deliberately excluding human instincts from the dialogue, as this requires another article.

Scientists hooked up brain tissue to a neural interface, allowing it to pass on instructions to a humanoid robot body.