Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, says that a “new paradigm of AI architectures” will emerge in the next three to five years, going far beyond the capabilities of existing AI systems.
LeCun also predicted that the coming years could be the “decade of robotics,” where advances in AI and robotics combine to unlock a new class of intelligent applications.
Speaking in a session dubbed “Debating Technology” at Davos on Thursday, LeCun said that the “flavor of AI” that we have at the moment — that is, generative AI and large language models (LLMs) — isn’t really up to all that much. It’s useful, sure, but falls short on many fronts.
“I think the shelf life of the current [LLM] paradigm is fairly short, probably three to five years,” LeCun said. “I think within five years, nobody in their right mind would use them anymore, at least not as the central component of an AI system. I think [….] we’re going to see the emergence of a new paradigm for AI architectures, which may not have the limitations of current AI systems.”
These “limitations” inhibit truly intelligent behavior in machines, LeCun says. This is down to four key reasons: a lack of understanding of the physical world; a lack of persistent memory; a lack of reasoning; and a lack of complex planning capabilities.
“LLMs really are not capable of any of this,” LeCun said. “So there’s going to be another revolution of AI over the next few years. We may have to change the name of it, because it’s probably not going to be generative in the sense that we understand it today.”
This echoes sentiments that LeCun has espoused in the past. At the heart of this is what are coming to be known as “world models” that promise to help machines understand the dynamics of the real world. This includes having a memory, common sense, intuition, reasoning capabilities — traits far beyond that of current systems, which are mostly about pattern recognition.
Previously, LeCun has said this could still be some 10 years away, but today’s estimate brings things a closer on the horizon. Though to what extent it will get to in that timeframe isn’t exactly clear.
“LLMs are good at manipulating language, but not at thinking,” LeCun said. “So that’s what we’re working on — having systems build mental models of the world. If the plan that we’re working on succeeds, with the timetable that we we hope, within three to five years we’ll have systems that are a completely different paradigm. They may have some level of common sense. They may be able to learn how the world works from observing the world and maybe interacting with it.”
As impressive as generative AI is, capable of passing the bar exam or unearthing new drugs, LeCun reckons that robotics could be a central component of the next wave of AI applications in such real-world scenarios.
Meta itself is doing some research work in the robotics realm, but so is the AI darling of the moment, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI. Earlier this month, new job listings emerged detailing a new OpenAI robotics team focused on “general-purpose,” “adaptive,” and “versatile” robots capable of human-like intelligence in real-world settings.
“We don’t have robots that can do what a cat can do — understanding the physical world of a cat is way superior to everything we can do with AI,” he said. “Maybe the coming decade will be the decade of robotics, maybe we’ll have AI systems that are sufficiently smart to understand how the real world works.”
