Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has announced a new type of AI technology called “interaction models.”
Unlike current AI chatbots, which wait for a user to finish speaking before replying, this new system is designed to listen and respond at the same time. The company says the goal is to make AI conversations feel more natural, similar to talking on a phone call instead of sending text messages.
The technology uses what is known as “full duplex” communication. According to Thinking Machines, its new model, called TML-Interaction-Small, can respond in just 0.40 seconds, which is close to the speed of normal human conversation.
The company claims this response time is faster than similar systems currently available from companies like OpenAI and Google.
However, the project is still in its early stages. Thinking Machines says the model is currently only a research preview and is not yet available to the public. A limited research release is expected in the coming months, followed by a wider launch later this year.
While the technology sounds promising, the company admits that people will need to test it in real-world situations before anyone knows how well it truly works.
