A group of researchers at Stanford University and Google have created a miniature RPG-style virtual world similar to The Sims, where 25 characters, controlled by ChatGPT and custom code, live out their lives independently with a high degree of realistic behavior. They wrote about their experiment in a preprint academic paper released on Friday. "Generative agents wake up, cook breakfast, and head to work; artists paint, while authors write; they form opinions, notice each other, and initiate conversations; they remember and reflect on days past as they plan the next day," write the researchers in their paper, "Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior." To pull this off, the researchers relied heavily on a large language model (LLM) for social interaction, specifically the ChatGPT API. In addition, they created an architecture that simulates minds with memories and experiences, then let the agents loose in the world to interact.

Scientists have modified Pepper the robot to think out loud, which they say can increase transparency and trust between human and machine. The Italian team built an'inner speech model' that allowed the robot to talk through its thought processes, just like humans when faced with a challenge or a dilemma. The experts found Pepper was better at overcoming confusing human instructions when it could relay its own inner dialogue out loud. Pepper – which has already been used as a receptionist and a coffee shop attendee – is the creation of Japanese tech company SoftBank. By creating their own'extension' of Pepper, the team have realised the concept of robotic inner speech, which they say could be applied in robotics contexts such as learning and regulation.

I'm a firm believer that every one of us is born with some particular tendencies and preferences. This is the inner voice that leads us to what we are called to become, our vocation. It was at the end of Engineering school. I studied Industrial Engineering in Madrid, with a specialization in Electrical Engineering. Very soon I realized that I didn't want to spend my career in electrical engineering.

"Talking is just something you do, isn't it?" asks Trevor Cox. "We take chatting for granted, and yet it's such an important part of our lives and such a complicated thing." Cox is a professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford and an expert in the science of sound. The Verge spoke to Cox about the history of the human voice, AI, and the strangeness of the inner voice. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Dr Eric C Leuthardt, 45, is a neurosurgeon at Washington University in St Louis. He is also the co-founder of NeuroLutions, a research laboratory developing direct interfaces between mind and computer. Leuthardt is pioneering the use of electrical brain implants to help restore motor function to the paralysed limbs of stroke victims. He is also helping to develop electrode systems that can directly decode the unspoken "inner voice" of the mind, and use it to direct external action; for example, Leuthardt's subjects have been able to control the cursor of a Space Invaders video game just by thinking. He has published two science fiction novels aimed at "preparing society for the changes" that his work predicts.