I think it’s pretty clear that simulation is the next frontier for AI.
The most impressive feats of AI to date are when we have a clear environment + reward, whether it be beating Le Sedol at Go, winning an IMO gold medal, or writing entire apps from scratch. In these cases, the RL algorithm can try different actions, and observe the well-defined consequences in the safety of a docker container.
But what about messy real-world situations involving people? The rewards are unclear, the stakes are high, and you can’t experiment in the real world. But these situations are precisely where the next big opportunity in AI is. To crack this, we need to *simulate* society (“put society into a docker container”). Concretely, this means building a model that can predict what will happen in any given situation (real or hypothetical). If we can do this, we are only limited by our imagination: predict the future, optimize for better outcomes, answer hypothetical (“what if”) questions. Ultimately, this goes beyond making better decisions, but it’s about giving us a better understanding of ourselves and the world.
Simulation is the whole enchilada. And this is exactly the research that @simile_ai is working on. Read more here:
https://t.co/eBMW2beHdT
Our work on generative agents showed that it's possible to accurately simulate human behavior by capturing rich information about real people.
@joon_s_pk spoke with @Nature about how our work builds on this research, and how enterprises can now use simulations to test decisions before they hit the real world:
https://t.co/5XswZaafif
Exciting to see @WSJ cover what we’re building at
@simile_ai.
It’s great to see the technology we developed in the lab making real world impact alongside foundational institutions like CVS and Gallup. Nothing like frontier research meeting real PMF!
https://t.co/C2Dbre0p8y
Simile is increasing decision-making capacity and decreasing research time. We are proud to work with partners like @CVSHealth! 🤝
Projects that took months are now taking hours, and studies are closer resembling human behavior than prior self-reported research - all with the goal of providing the best products and services for customers at companies like CVS Health, where the customer is centered in every decision.
Read more in the CVS Health whitepaper below.
Happy Valentine’s Day from Team Simile!
Fun fact: In our founders’ 2023 paper, @joon_s_pk and team introduced the concept of generative agents to the world by simulating a town of 25 agents… one of who was planning a Valentine’s Day party.
The agents autonomously spread invitations to the party over the next two days, made new acquaintances, and asked each other out on dates to the party.
This town of agents, Smallville, along with all the flirty festivities, was instrumental in creating the field of AI-based simulation.
Love is in the air! 🎈
Simile CEO @joon_s_pk says their long-term goal is to simulate all 8 billion people on Earth:
He says the real value isn’t just predicting what people will do - but understanding why they do it, referencing a line from the Oracle in The Matrix: ‘You’re not necessarily here to make a decision. You’ve already made the decision. You’re here to understand the decision and why you made it.’”
“That captures the essence of simulation. The models we're creating aren't merely trying to predict the future - although we are good at that, and that is one of the core capabilities - but what is more important to me is understanding why we made a decision, and creating these kinds of bottom-up simulations where we can actually go back and trace through the audit logs of how society might unfold.”
We’re thrilled to lead @simile_ai's $100M Series A!
By building digital twins of real people grounded in real interviews and real data, we believe they’re creating the foundational infrastructure for decision-making in an AI-native world.
Generative agents. Foundation models. Some of the core ideas shaping modern AI trace back to Joon Sung Park, Percy Liang, and Michael Bernstein.
Now they’re building Simile - digital twins of people as enterprise infrastructure for decision-making.
Proud to lead their $100M Series A alongside an exceptional group of partners & angels.
Big ambition. Incredible team.
Link: https://t.co/hHiMeGMQYo
@simile_ai Congrats @simile_ai team! Simulating behaviors is an amazing opportunity for AI to help our work. Massive research opportunities with immediate application!