Large language models learn to predict text, but a newer approach called "world models" aims to give AI an internal simulation of how things work, so a system can anticipate what will happen and act accordingly. For example, a robot could imagine what happens if it pushes a cup before it does so. This is useful for planning and for physical tasks. But predicting outcomes isn't the same as human thinking, which involves lived experience, a body, emotion and an understanding of meaning. A world model is a statistical map built from data, and it can be wrong in ways a person's common sense usually would not be.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.