The ceiling problem

An LLM that can’t tell it has reached its ceiling may not know when to reach for the calculator

There is a foundational bet being placed, quietly but with enormous sums of money, at the heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The bet is that large language models, arranged in sufficiently clever configurations, will eventually become capable of doing anything a human knowledge worker can do. The autonomous agent. The tireless, infinitely scalable mind that never sleeps, never complains, and never asks for equity.