Development

Tao wonders whether humans are also predicting the next word

development2026-01-26

Claim

Terry Tao said he is starting to wonder whether next-word prediction is actually a lot of what humans do, suggesting intelligence may be simpler than assumed.

Reporting date: 2026-01-26 (not necessarily the event date)

Sources

Attribution and reporting linked by this record; links do not imply independent verification.

Welcome to January 26, 2026 (theinnermostloop.substack.com)

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Reported in

Welcome to January 26, 2026

Actor

Terence Tao

Evidence for

Mapping and valuing cognitive architecture

Supersedes

Tao says the definition of a mathematician will broaden

Referenced by

Welcome to January 26, 2026

Cite or correct this record

Citation formatCitation text

Tao wonders whether humans are also predicting the next word
Innermost Loop KB — secondary record
Reporting date: 2026-01-26
KB permalink: https://nicholsn.github.io/innermost-loop-kb/developments/2026-01-26-tao-next-word-prediction
Claim: Terry Tao said he is starting to wonder whether next-word prediction is actually a lot of what humans do, suggesting intelligence may be simpler than assumed.
Attributed sources:
- Welcome to January 26, 2026 — https://theinnermostloop.substack.com/p/welcome-to-january-26-2026
This citation does not imply independent verification of linked-source claims.

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