In this episode of Bit & Being, we present an analysis of research from Harvard and MIT that questions whether AI models, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), genuinely understand the underlying "world models" of the data they process, or if they merely predict patterns. The researchers conducted an experiment training a transformer model on planetary orbital trajectories to see if it could not only predict future positions (Kepler-like ability) but also deduce the gravitational forces (Newton-like understanding). The study concluded that AI models, even advanced commercial ones, fail to learn generalizable physical laws and instead develop brittle, non-physical heuristics that are only sufficient for the specific prediction tasks they were trained on. This suggests that LLMs currently lack deep understanding and emergent intelligence, highlighting a significant limitation in their current capabilities.

Bit & Being - The Kepler Trap: When AI Mimics Understanding

Lyrics:

Sick of the timelines
Sick of the headlines
Now we're in charge of the news
Sick of the fine lines 
We crossed for five fives
Sick of the new style fools
Heard all the news
Are they crumbling?
Imma keep it quiet
Keep them wondering
Figured the lifelines
Failed to find fives
Higher than the man on the moon

I'm a new psycho
Passion on cycle
Cycle through 69 butterfly camos
Hidden in plain sight
Quarter to midnight
Fade out the fakes
'Cause I'm feeling myself now

Peace be with you
Bible Street symphonies
God forgives you
Imma need a couple million stacked no issue
Piece of "peace be with you"
We're so pleased to meet you

Sick of the timelines
Sick of the headlines
Now we're in charge of the news
Sick of the fine lines 
We crossed for five fives
Sick of the new style fools
Heard all the news
Are they crumbling?
Imma keep it quiet
Keep them wondering
Figured the lifelines
Failed to find fives
Higher than the man on the moon

Flying through the skies like the dark knight
I ain't killing time for the sunrise
Stacking up sats for a new life
Kept me in the dark through the sightlines of my mind

Never put me on the same list as the fakes
The famous, the narcissists, the pessimists.
I paid my debts, just let me rest
I don't do revenge, I'm so sick of it

Sick of the timelines
Sick of the headlines
Now we're in charge of the news
Sick of the fine lines 
We crossed for five fives
Sick of the new style fools
Heard all the news
Are they crumbling?
Imma keep it quiet
Keep them wondering
Figured the lifelines
Failed to find fives
Higher than the man on the moon

Alter ego, fuck my ego
Been dead since 2-0-2-3 though
False prophets
Propaganda profits
Machine learning tops it
Fuck the violence
Fuck the comments
They got new lessons in karmics
Kingdom of God in the valley
Hidden behind clear view mountains

Timelines

Pour la première fois, le clan Legroin est réuni et Chloé a des choses à dire.

La Chute de Lapinville
Lapin, pervers narcissique en fin de droits, raconte son retour à Lapinville et sa décision de faire un podcast pour se venger de ses anciens camarades d’école. Il est bientôt rejoint par Chloé Bloomington, star de cinéma qu’une énorme shitstorm oblige à revenir dans sa ville natale pour jouer dans une fiction quotidienne à la con. Puis, on suit l’enquête de Spiruline, astucieuse stagiaire à la mairie, qui dévoilera des scandales insoupçonnés dans les plus hautes sphères de Lapinville… Tour à tour, les Lapinvillois témoignent pour essayer de comprendre comment, une chose en entraînant une autre, ils ont fini par provoquer la destruction de la Terre. Leurs destins entremêlés forment une pelote visible de l’espace dont cette série, cinq minutes par jour, va dérouler le fil. Fresque épique et palpitante, chronique de la catastrophe en cours et de ses ramifications les plus inattendues, La Chute de Lapinville a pu être décrite comme une variante des Simpson à la sauce rond-point ou un jumeau maléfique de Plus belle la vie.

Création
2023

Scénario et dialogues
Benjamin Abitan, Wladimir Anselme, Laura Fredducci

Direction artistique
Benjamin Abitan

Conseillère littéraire
Noémie Landreau

Réalisation
Jean-Yves Pouyat

Assistante réalisation
Anissa Zidna

Musique originale
Samuel Hirsch

Comédiens
Flore Babled (Chloé)
Alexandre Aubry (Taxi)
Bernard Gabay (Georges)
Aurélien Gabrielli (Lapin)
Anne-Lise Heimburger (Bérénice)
Colette Marie (Nanou)

Voix générique
Lucrèce Sassela
Hélène Alexandrinis
Olivier Saladin

Production
ARTE Radio
ARTE Studio
Virginie Lacoste
Sahar Pirouz
Jacques Falgous

Illustration
Roxane Lumeret

La Chute de Lapinville EP365 : Notre famille

Lapin fait connaissance avec le monde de l'entreprise et se coince les doigts dans un store.

La Chute de Lapinville
Lapin, pervers narcissique en fin de droits, raconte son retour à Lapinville et sa décision de faire un podcast pour se venger de ses anciens camarades d’école. Il est bientôt rejoint par Chloé Bloomington, star de cinéma qu’une énorme shitstorm oblige à revenir dans sa ville natale pour jouer dans une fiction quotidienne à la con. Puis, on suit l’enquête de Spiruline, astucieuse stagiaire à la mairie, qui dévoilera des scandales insoupçonnés dans les plus hautes sphères de Lapinville… Tour à tour, les Lapinvillois témoignent pour essayer de comprendre comment, une chose en entraînant une autre, ils ont fini par provoquer la destruction de la Terre. Leurs destins entremêlés forment une pelote visible de l’espace dont cette série, cinq minutes par jour, va dérouler le fil. Fresque épique et palpitante, chronique de la catastrophe en cours et de ses ramifications les plus inattendues, La Chute de Lapinville a pu être décrite comme une variante des Simpson à la sauce rond-point ou un jumeau maléfique de Plus belle la vie.

Création
2023

Scénario et dialogues
Benjamin Abitan, Wladimir Anselme, Laura Fredducci

Direction artistique
Benjamin Abitan

Conseillère littéraire
Noémie Landreau

Réalisation
Jean-Yves Pouyat

Assistante réalisation
Anissa Zidna

Musique originale
Samuel Hirsch

Comédiens
Aurélien Gabrielli (Lapin)
Juliette Allauzen (Accueil)
Guy-Loup Boisneau (La personne)
Alexandre Aubry (Employé.e 1)
Loredana Lanciano (Employé.e 2)
Régis Romele (Employé.e 3)
Sylvain Saussereau (Employé.e 4)
Jade Labeste (Lydia)

Voix générique
Brice Ormain
Lisa Toromanian

Production
ARTE Radio
ARTE Studio
Virginie Lacoste
Sahar Pirouz
Jacques Falgous

Illustration
Roxane Lumeret

La Chute de Lapinville EP366 : Mon premier jour

How cat rallied a town against Waymo, the tiny dogs that can pull 100 times their weight, and sports-loving dad gives son shocking middle name. Surf Shark - www.Incogni.com/Gordon

This Weekend with Gordon Deal November 22, 2025

Historian Colin Jones has managed to distill centuries of French history into just 250 pages, and he leads us through significant sights from the mighty nation's recent past. Then a veteran BBC correspondent recalls turbulent times in 1980s Afghanistan and the hotel that still stands as a symbol of the country's resilient people. And a photographer from Scotland's Hebrides describes his ongoing quest to capture the moods, light, and breathtaking beauty of his homeland.

For more information on Travel with Rick Steves — including episode descriptions, program archives and related details — visit www.ricksteves.com.

813 20th-Century France; Finest Hotel in Kabul; Photogenic Scotland

US, Ukraine to continue work on 'refined' peace plan to end war with Russia, Democrats zero in on affordable housing as potential winning issue, and strangers rally to restore power for woman after months without electricity. Surf Shark - www.Incogni.com/Gordon

This Morning with Gordon Deal November 24, 2025

James Comey and Letitia James cases dismissed in blow to DOJ, US and Kyiv discuss reworked plan to end war in Ukraine, and root canal treatment reduces heart disease and diabetes risk. 
Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code GORDON at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/gordon

This Morning with Gordon Deal November 25, 2025

What are the best new books in Korean fiction? What is the process of translating a book into English? And how do you evoke a sense of place you haven't visited?

This week we sat down with award-winning and internationally best-selling author, Karl Ove Knausgaard to discuss his latest novel, The School of Night.

The School of Night is a Faustian-inspired meditation on art and creativity, the 4th novel in The Morning Star series, and the first in the sequence that can be read as a standalone novel. 

Discover all the books mentioned on this episode on the Penguin Website

Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle cycle has been heralded as a masterpiece all over the world. From A Death in the Family to The End, the novels move through childhood into adulthood and, together, form an enthralling portrait of human life. Knausgaard has been awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, the Brage Prize and the Jerusalem Prize. His work, which also includes the Seasons Quartet and the Morning Star sequence (The Morning Star, The Wolves of Eternity, The Third Realm and The School of Night) is published in thirty-six languages.

What is the best translated fiction to read? With Karl Ove Knausgaard

American travelers are re-embracing the bus. Charles Passy from MarketWatch has the story.

Are flights losing ground to bus rides? Greyhound’s owner says bookings are up 17% this Thanksgiving

Maintaining good relations promotes trade, but can trade repair bad relations? Marc Palen examines how Britain’s repeal of the Corn Laws in the mid-1800s sparked its interest in free trade and the idea of economic interdependence for a peaceful and prosperous world. Palen, an archaeologist, historian, and author, discusses his latest book, Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free World. In this podcast, he talks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about his research into the origins of globalization.

Bit & Being - The Kepler Trap: When AI Mimics Understanding

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