Could you score an'A' on an eighth-grade science test? If so, you're in the same league as Aristo, an artificial intelligence system whose remarkable language and logic skills highlight recent progress in the A.I. industry. For context: Four years ago, some 700 computer scientists competed for $80,000 to develop an A.I. that could merely pass an eighth-grade science test. None scored higher than 60 percent. But now, thanks to improved "language models" driven by neural networks, systems like Aristo are becoming much better at predicting language and understanding how to apply it to solve logic-based tasks. Aristo, as The New York Times notes, is built on a neural-network technology called Bert, developed by Google.

An artificial intelligence system developed by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence successfully passed an eighth-grade multiple-choice science test, correctly answering over 90% of the questions. The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) system that successfully passed an eighth-grade multiple-choice science test, correctly answering over 90% of the questions, as well as scoring more than 80% on a 12th-grade test. The Aristo system's milestone suggests understanding the language and logic that high school students are expected to possess is no longer outside AI's capabilities. Aristo took standard exams written for students in New York schools, with questions including pictures and diagrams removed; some questions required simple information retrieval, while others required logical thinking. Aristo was built atop Google's Bert, a language-model system that learned via guessing missing words in sentences.

Four years ago, more than 700 computer scientists competed in a contest to build artificial intelligence that could pass an eighth-grade science test. There was $80,000 in prize money on the line. Even the most sophisticated system couldn't do better than 60% on the test. AI couldn't match the language and logic skills that students are expected to have when they enter high school. But Wednesday, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a prominent lab in Seattle, unveiled a new system that passed the test with room to spare.

An artificial intelligence system has made history by being the first to pass an eighth grade science test with flying colors. According to The New York Times, researchers at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seattle Washington have cracked the code for test-taking computers. Its system, called Aristo, received a 90 percent score on an eighth-grade science test and passed with an 80 percent grade on a 12th-grade exam. An AI passed an eighth grade science exam with flying colors, marking a first for the technology. Scientists four years ago failed to get AI to achieve a passing grade.