New o1 pro output - I’m experimenting with getting it to converge on my voice (links at the bottom)
Hope you like this one
OpenAI’s latest model has people calling it “near-AGI,” which is a fancy way of saying it can do a lot more than your standard AI assistant. At a practical level, you throw it a question—whether it’s about marketing, nuclear physics, 15th-century history, or the meaning of life—and it comes back with an answer that seems like it’s pulling from a bottomless well of knowledge. The trick is that it’s really just a huge statistical model, trained on endless text, so it approximates the sum of what’s written out there. Still, when you use it, it can feel like your own mental capacity just ramped up.
Part 1: Extending Human IQ Through AI
The real magic is in how seamlessly you can offload parts of your thinking process:
Faster Reasoning Loops: Ask a tough question, get an immediate response, and then refine or validate it. Normally, you’d spend hours searching articles or pestering experts—now it’s boiled down to minutes.
Broad Knowledge Base: Because it’s trained on diverse data, the model can pivot from politics to advanced chemistry without blinking. That’s why it feels like a universal resource.
Personal Judgment Still Needed: You’re not literally becoming a genius overnight; you still have to confirm whether the AI’s answer is correct. But if you stay vigilant, you find yourself tackling problems faster than you’d ever thought possible.
For many, that alone justifies calling it “IQ-as-a-Service.” It’s like borrowing mental horsepower any time you’re stuck or curious.
The key here is that it doesn’t just increase retrieval knowledge. It actually drastically improves your reasoning speed. Here’s an output that shows this could increase your IQ by up to two standard deviations just by thinking faster (esp on the reasoning front). Worth a read.
Part 2: Probability Machines, Not Oracles
Despite how it looks, these AIs aren’t actual oracles. They figure out the most likely next word based on patterns in giant datasets. That’s why:
They’re Impressive, But Finite. They can’t invent real-world facts that no one has discovered yet. They operate within what’s been documented in their training.
They Sometimes Hallucinate. If the training data is thin or contradictory, the AI might produce confident nonsense.
They Approximate a “World Model.” Over millions (or billions) of parameters, they build a layered representation of human knowledge. Not all of it, but a hefty slice.
This approximation gets better each time researchers fine-tune the model or feed it richer data.
Converging with the “World Model”
Here’s where it gets intriguing. The AI’s internal representation—its “world model”—isn’t infinite, but it’s wide enough to cover a massive swath of what’s been collectively written, coded, and analyzed. When you interact with it:
You Refine Your Queries: Every time you nudge the AI to correct an error or drill deeper into a topic, you’re effectively uncovering more of that underlying structure.
The AI Returns Better-Targeted Information: As it sees more context, it zeroes in on more accurate or nuanced responses.
Gradually, You Gain Insight into the Model’s Patterns: Over repeated queries, you start spotting links, noticing how certain fields connect, and forming your own mental map of how these pieces fit together.
This feedback loop can create a sense that you’re inching closer to a complete understanding of whatever domain you’re exploring. Of course, the knowledge isn’t truly boundless, but it’s expansive enough that you catch glimpses of something that feels bigger than what you’d normally traverse on your own.
Practical Upsides (and a Few Caveats)
Efficient Learning & Research: If you’re trying to learn a new skill—let’s say machine learning or marine biology—you can rapidly acquire distilled overviews, definitions, and references. You still need to cross-check, but it’s a faster way to ramp up.
Problem-Solving & Brainstorming: Getting stuck on a bug in your code or planning a complex itinerary? The AI can propose starting points or creative angles, saving time you’d otherwise spend in trial-and-error.
Risk of Over-Reliance: If you treat the AI like a flawless oracle, you might absorb its mistakes without realizing. Verification and a critical mindset are key.
Ethical Gray Areas: Some worry we’ll become too dependent or that it’ll replace certain jobs. Others argue it frees people to focus on creativity and strategy. Either way, these questions are worth keeping on your radar.
A Hint of Something Larger
The big takeaway is that these advanced models don’t just answer questions—they change how you think. By refining queries, analyzing responses, and iterating on both, you start to see the outlines of a vast, interconnected knowledge web. It’s not omniscience. But the sensation of skimming across so many fields, from advanced math to culinary arts, can be exhilarating.
No, You’re Not God: The AI isn’t all-powerful, and your own understanding still has human limits.
But It Feels Closer to Omniscience: You’re able to tap into a broad repository that suggests connections you might never encounter on your own, giving you a vantage point on knowledge that once felt out of reach.
That’s the subtle hint that we’re stepping into territory that used to be pure science fiction.
Final Thought: Reaching for the “World Model” Yourself
Ultimately, the most powerful aspect of this “IQ-as-a-Service” is that you’re not just consuming answers—you’re converging on a deeper framework of how information flows. Each time you refine the AI’s output, you refine your own mental model of the world. The AI speeds up the journey, but it’s still your intellect guiding the conversation.
It’s tempting to think we might one day have universal knowledge on tap. We’re not there yet, but tools like this give a glimpse of what that path could look like. For now, it’s a good deal: access a massive chunk of collective human wisdom, shape it with your own perspective, and come away smarter for it.
Use it thoughtfully, stay curious, and keep verifying the important stuff. If you do, you might find yourself standing on the edge of a knowledge frontier you never even realized was within reach. And that’s where this whole concept starts to feel a bit magical—like we’re gaining the keys to a room that was always locked.
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