AI Learns to Understand Reality, Not Just Describe It

AI's capabilities have expanded to writing, image generation, and coding. Now, the focus shifts to whether machines can grasp the fundamental workings of reality. World models are at the forefront of this pursuit, aiming to imbue AI with an understanding of cause and effect, essential for robots and self-driving cars.

Originally referring to systems predicting specific environments, 'world models' now often denote large-scale foundation models trained on vast sensory data to simulate physical reality. These differ from large language models, which predict text based on patterns, by learning directly from actions and their resulting consequences in either physical or virtual settings.

The development of world models is propelled by the need for AI agents and robots that operate with less supervision. By learning in simulated environments, these models offer a safer and more efficient alternative to real-world training, with potential applications extending to drug discovery and advanced human-computer interaction.