Hi, we're here from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today you learn about why engineers designed a robot that can imagine itself, why the

great compression was the best time to be alive financially speaking, and the

ups and downs of a rare genetic condition that makes you incredibly loving.

Let's satisfy some curiosity.

Engineers have created a robot that can essentially imagine itself.

In late January, a robot modeled itself without prior knowledge of physics or its shape, and

the Columbia researchers behind this believe it's a necessary next step in AI development.

The robots are becoming self-aware.

I mean, yeah, that's pretty much what this is.

This actually literally is happening.

Yeah, but it's important for us to make more progress in AI.

And this is a big deal because a lot of artificial intelligence is what we call narrow AI.

That means the AI is trained to do something super specialized like

move boxes around a warehouse or diagnose a disease. That kind of AI works great

for specific tasks but it's kind of like teaching someone to only shoot a

basketball from a free throw line. Sure you'll be great in free throw contests

but you'd be hopeless in an actual basketball game. Engineers dream of a future with general AI, where robots can learn and adapt

to their surroundings without having to be pre-programmed. The problem with that is that robots

have to be hard-coded with a simulator, and that can cost a lot of time and money.

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