World Models, Free Energy, and a Plastic Dinosaur - CleanTechnica

The article revisits a 2020 project involving a meter-high robotic Plastic Dinosaur wrapped in smart fabric, originally used as a narrative device to explore machine learning and neural networks. While the dinosaur was not truly conscious then, the author returns to the topic in 2026 to delve deeper into cognition and consciousness, inspired partly by recent statements from AI leader Dario Amodei. Amodei suggested that artificial general intelligence (AGI) might already exist in limited or intermittent forms, based on large models demonstrating broad reasoning across domains, though he did not claim these systems possess consciousness or subjective experience. The article also touches on ethical concerns, noting Amodei’s refusal to allow AI models for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons without human oversight, while permitting foreign surveillance and human-in-the-loop weapons use. The discussion extends to the current hype around bipedal robots, such as Elon Musk’s Optimus and various advanced robots from China, highlighting a fundamental challenge: unlike vision and sound, tactile sensing and