How to find the smartest AI
Developers are building fiendish tests only the best models can pass

THE DIZZYING array of letters splattered across the page of one of Jonathan Roberts’s visual-reasoning questions resembles a word search assembled by a sadist. Test-takers aren’t merely tasked with finding the hidden words in the image, but with spotting a question written in the shape of a star and then answering that in turn (see below).
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Extra credit”

From the June 21st 2025 edition
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