Reports that OpenAI is making a leap towards human-level artificial intelligence (AI) have the business world excited with visions of AI-powered commerce that could rewrite the rules of global trade if the technology pans out.
General artificial intelligence AGI is a quantum leap beyond current AI, aiming to match or surpass human cognitive capabilities across a range of tasks. In commerce, experts say AGI can revolutionize decision-making and provide deeper insights into market trends and consumer behavior. It is expected to streamline operations from supply chain management to product development with unprecedented efficiency.
according to ReutersIn a project codenamed “Strawberry,” OpenAI is developing a new approach to AI models, aiming to boost their advanced inference capabilities. While the exact details and timeline are unclear, the effort is focused on improving the AI’s ability to understand and process complex information, and the Microsoft-backed startup is positioned to push the boundaries of what models can achieve.
“OpenAI’s pursuit of human-level reasoning is not just a technological marvel. It’s a story of pushing boundaries and creating new possibilities in every domain.” Ghazenfer Mansour“For businesses, AI can dramatically change how they manage supply chains, predict market trends with incredible accuracy and make customer experiences hyper-personal at scale,” the Technology Rivers founder and CEO told PYMNTS.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PYMNTS.
Human-like reasoning
Reuters reported earlier this year that OpenAI staff demonstrated AI models that could answer difficult science and math problems, with one model scoring over 90% on a math championship dataset. In a recent internal meeting, OpenAI introduced a project with new human-like reasoning skills, but it is unclear if this is related to Project Strawberry.
“The way such algorithms work is by creating multiple options, walking a tree of possibilities, and reasoning about the outcomes to choose the optimal path.” Smith OS Chief Technology Officer Alexander de Ridder “It’s similar to a chess player looking ahead at the various steps before making a move,” he told PYMNTS.
De Ridder suggested that OpenAI’s innovations could involve “algorithmic breakthroughs to do this efficiently and scalably,” and potentially “combining autonomous web exploration with the use of tools to reach inference breakthroughs.”
OpenAI Reportedly The company has developed a five-level classification system to track progress towards AGI, placing current technology at Level 1. The company, known for its advanced language models, plans to share the framework with investors and external parties as a potential breakthrough in the quest for AI to outperform humans at a range of tasks.
Contextual reasoning is essential for the advancement of AI technology, and the realization of this capability brings us another step closer to artificial general intelligence. Nick SanchezSenior Solutions Architect Druid AIsaid PYMNTS.
“By incorporating inference as a predictive component, AI can contextualize the purpose of the question and frame the data in a way that best suits the questioner,” he added.
From finance to healthcare
Experts highlighted various applications of advanced AI reasoning: “Creating robotic assistants that can navigate the real world and reason within it would be a major advancement. Being able to reason about scientific data with human-level understanding would transform and accelerate the way we make discoveries,” de Ridder noted.
Sanchez focuses on human-centric impact: “Advanced reasoning allows us to create more context for the initial input, which then influences the output, resulting in a more efficient and personalized interaction for the user.” He gives an example: “If someone asks a bank chatbot what their account balance is because they have a bill to pay tomorrow but don’t have enough money, the AI has a better understanding of the situation and can share a more empathetic response.”
The potential impact on healthcare is particularly significant: “AI with human-level reasoning capabilities has the potential to revolutionize diagnosis, treatment planning, and drug discovery,” Mansoor said. “It has the potential to analyze complex medical data, understand patient medical histories, and recommend personalized treatment plans with unprecedented accuracy.”
“AI-powered thinking can increase efficiency, aid in data-driven decision-making and generate new ideas. AI can help businesses change the way they do things, adapt faster and better plan for the future,” Mansoor elaborated.
In the competitive landscape, “OpenAI has lost its lead in being best in every category and for every type of user, but it is by far the strongest model in the world and leads in accessibility,” said de Ridder, pointing to the progress of other companies, including Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 model family and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro Flash.
The race toward human-level AI also raises important questions: Benchmarking and EvaluationDe Ridder explained: “It is widely acknowledged that current benchmarks need improvement. Previous benchmark standards have either been contaminated by new training runs, proven insufficient/flawed, or were too easy for AI models.”
As the AI industry moves toward human-level reasoning, the potential for transformative applications is growing. But challenges remain in bridging the gap between current AI models and true human-like understanding and reasoning. Ethical considerations, including privacy concerns and potential job losses, are also major issues.
“These improved capabilities will transform many sectors, bring new insights to businesses and usher in a new era of creativity and efficiency,” Mansour said, emphasizing the need for responsible development and deployment of these powerful technologies.
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