Humanity's Last Exam: The Ultimate Challenge for Artificial Intelligence

I have been speaking a lot about the speed of evolution we are witnessing in artificial intelligence (AI). Now a groundbreaking initiative has emerged that aims to push the boundaries of AI testing to unprecedented levels. Dubbed "Humanity's Last Exam," this project seeks to create the most challenging and comprehensive AI test ever devised. As we glance around the corner to catch a glimpse of what's to come, this initiative couldn't be more timely or crucial.

The Call for the Ultimate AI Test

On September 16, 2024, the Center for AI Safety (CAIS) and Scale AI launched a global call for the most challenging questions to test artificial intelligence systems.?This ambitious project comes in response to recent advancements in AI technology, particularly OpenAI's latest model, OpenAI o1, which has reportedly "destroyed" many popular reasoning benchmarks. The primary objectives of "Humanity's Last Exam" are twofold:

1. To determine when AI systems achieve expert-level capabilities
2. To create a benchmark that remains relevant as AI technology advances

The Need for a New Benchmark

Dan Hendrycks , executive director of Center for AI Safety and advisor to Elon Musk's xAI startup, highlighted the urgent need for more rigorous testing. "Existing tests have become too easy, and we can no longer track AI developments well or how far they are from becoming expert-level," Hendrycks explained. This need is underscored by the rapid progress in AI performance on existing benchmarks. For instance:

• Anthropic's Claude models have increased their undergraduate test scores from 77% to nearly 89% in just one year.
• OpenAI's o1 model has reportedly outperformed most popular reasoning benchmarks.

However, despite these impressive advancements, AI still struggles with specific tasks. According to Stanford University's AI Index Report from April, AI systems continue to score poorly on tests involving planning and visual pattern-recognition puzzles.

The Focus on Abstract Reasoning

"Humanity's Last Exam" addresses these gaps by focusing on abstract reasoning. This emphasis is rooted in the belief that abstract reasoning is one of the most reliable indicators of true intelligence. While AI models have demonstrated exceptional performance in knowledge-based rationale, they have fallen short in tasks that require planning, problem-solving, and pattern recognition. For example, OpenAI o1, despite its impressive performance in many areas, scored only around 21% on a visual pattern recognition test known as ARC-AGI. By designing questions emphasizing abstract reasoning, "Humanity's Last Exam" seeks to push AI systems beyond their current capabilities and provide a clearer picture of their potential and limitations.

The Challenge of Designing the Ultimate Test

Creating a test that can challenge the most advanced AI systems is no small feat. The organizers of "Humanity's Last Exam" have outlined several critical criteria for question submissions:

1. Expertise Level: Questions should be challenging for non-experts to answer. The organizers recommend that question writers have at least five years of experience in a technical industry job or are PhD students or above in academic training.
2. Originality: All questions must be original work, not copied from existing sources.
3. Objectivity: Answers should be accepted by other experts in the field and free from personal taste, ambiguity, or subjectivity.
4. Confidentiality: To maintain the integrity of the test, questions and answers should not be publicly available.
5. Ethical Considerations: Due to potential safety concerns, the organizers have placed one significant restriction on submissions: no questions about weapons.

The Structure and Scope of the Exam

"Humanity's Last Exam" will include at least 1,000 crowd-sourced questions designed to challenge AI systems at an expert level.?These questions will undergo peer review to ensure quality and relevance. The exam will cover various disciplines, seeking expert input across multiple fields, including technical industries and academia. This broad scope aims to comprehensively assess AI capabilities across numerous human knowledge and reasoning domains.

The Implications for AI Development

The results of "Humanity's Last Exam" could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI development. If AI systems can pass these expert-level tests, it would significantly shift our understanding of artificial intelligence and its capabilities. These results would likely guide the next steps in AI safety and regulation as society grapples with the implications of AI systems that can reason and plan at expert levels. The project will provide valuable insights into how far AI has come and how much further it still has to go, helping to shape the future of AI research and development.

Participation and Recognition

The organizers are calling on experts from various fields to contribute their most challenging questions. Successful contributors may be invited as co-authors on the related paper and have a chance to win from a $500,000 prize pool, with individual prizes up to $5,000. The deadline for question submissions is November 1, 2024.?This gives potential contributors ample time to craft genuinely challenging questions that push the boundaries of AI capabilities.

Conclusion

"Humanity's Last Exam" represents a bold new frontier in AI testing. As AI continues to advance rapidly, projects like this are essential to ensuring that we can accurately measure and understand the capabilities of these robust systems. By focusing on expert-level reasoning and ensuring the integrity of the tests, "Humanity's Last Exam" aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of AI's progress. As we look toward the future, the results of this project will play a crucial role in shaping the next phase of AI development and ensuring that these technologies are developed safely, ethically, and responsibly. The call for "Humanity's Last Exam" is more than just a test for AI—it's a call to action for experts across all fields to contribute to our understanding of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on society. As we stand on the brink of potentially transformative AI capabilities, your expertise could help create the ultimate challenge for AI systems worldwide. Will you answer the call?

References

1. Center for AI Safety and Scale AI. "Submit Your Toughest Questions for Humanity's Last Exam." Scale AI (blog), September 16, 2024.?https://scale.com/blog/humanitys-last-exam .
2. Carroll, Mickey. "Humanity's Last Exam: Experts Ready Toughest Questions to Pose to AI." India Today, September 17, 2024.?https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/humanitys-last-exam-experts-ready-toughest-questions-to-pose-to-ai-2601194-2024-09-17 .
3. JustAI. "The Call for 'Humanity's Last Exam.'" JustAI (blog), September 17, 2024.?https://justai.in/the-call-for-humanitys-last-exam/ .
4. Carroll, Mickey. "Public Asked to Help Create 'Humanity's Last Exam' to Spot When AI Achieves Peak Intelligence." Sky News, September 18, 2024.?https://news.sky.com/story/public-asked-to-help-create-humanitys-last-exam-to-spot-when-ai-achieves-peak-intelligence-13217142 .
5. Futurism. "Scientists Preparing 'Humanity's Last Exam' to Test Powerful AI." Futurism, September 18, 2024.?https://futurism.com/the-byte/humanitys-last-exam-ai-benchmarks .