Memory makes computation universal, remember?

What CRISPR, o3, and the Memphis Plume Show Us About Intelligence.

TL;DR: Universal intelligence—the ability to solve any problem—depends on the ability to be true to yourself while remembering what you’ve thought, and nothing else.

proof: arXiv:2412.17794

• The Memphis Plume - the race for artificial general intelligence made visible
• Universal Computation - human + pen + paper + sandwiches = universal computer
• Memory Makes Computation Universal - two rules for general intelligence
• The Bitter Pill - why making transformers think longer will hit a wall
• Nature’s Solution - learning from biological memory
• Beyond Brute Force - what o3 reveals
• o1 Forgets - why you can’t hack memory
• A Path Forward - remembering efficiently

The Memphis Plume

On a crisp morning in early December 2024, I was running by the Mississippi when I noticed a plume on the horizon: