Scientists Are Getting Seriously Worried That We've Already Hit Peak AI

The long-awaited release of OpenAI's GPT-5 has gone over with a wet thud.

Though the private sector continues to dump billions into artificial intelligence development, hoping for exponential gains, the research community isn't convinced.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Gary Marcus, a neural scientist and longtime critic of OpenAI, said what many have been coming to suspect: despite years of development at a staggering cost, AI doesn't seem to be getting much better.

Though GPT-5 technically performs better on AI industry benchmarks — an already unreliable measure of progress, experts have argued — the critic argues that its use beyond anything other than a virtual chat-buddy remains unlikely. Worse yet, the rate at which new models grow against those dubious benchmarks appears to be slowin