Re: LLMs are evolving to mimic human cognitive science ...

Some more on memory ...

> On 8 Feb 2026, at 15:04, Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org> wrote:
> 
> … the current technical research focus is on memory and reasoning, and so far to a lesser extent on continual learning.  Findings in the cognitive sciences are providing valuable research insights for novel neural AI architectures.  The goal is not to reproduce people, but rather to provide useful tools.


Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, recently spoke out on how he see’s AI evolving [1].  He emphasised improvements in agent memory which he expects to arrive in the next few years:

> What perfect memory looks like:
> 
> Remembers every word you've ever said to it.
> Has read every email you've written, every document you've created.
> Knows your small preferences you didn't even think to indicate.
> Personalized across every detail of your entire life.
> Tracks changes in your preferences over time.
> Understands context from years ago without you having to remind it.
> 
> AI will offer perfect, unlimited, consistent memory. No degradation over time. No confusion between similar events. Complete recall of every interaction.


Altman also talks about all of us getting used to describing our intents and delegating agency to AI to figure out and then execute the actions needed to accomplish those intents, given what the AI knows about us.

This will require fastidious attention to trust, privacy and security.  Where should such highly personal information be held,  and how can this be kept from attackers and malicious employers and autocratic governments?  This gives businesses operating such agents huge power over our lives. How can we ensure open and fair ecosystems and avoid abusive controlling behaviour?

My hunch is that we will find better ways to decentralise AI and move it to the edge.  Rather than an all powerful AI, we should aim for a society of AI's with different skills and different roles. Continual learning will allow AI’s to acquire new skills over time and as needed.

[1] https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/openais-vision-for-2026-sam-altman-lays-out-the-roadmap/

Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org>