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The MIT Quest for Intelligence

The Science of Intelligence meets the Engineering of Intelligence

Spotlights

Project

Quest Robotics/Embodied Intelligence (QREI)

The Quest Engineering Team collaborated with the Embodied Intelligence Mission to develop a system that facilitates experimentation and benchmarking in the Quest Robotics/Embodied Intelligence development cycle.

CBMM logo

Our Roots

Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines

The Quest for Intelligence is built on the Foundations of CBMM, a a multi-institutional NSF Science and Technology Center dedicated to the study of intelligence — how the brain produces intelligent behavior and how we may be able to replicate intelligence in machines.

Event

Colloquium, March 20: Judy Fan, Stanford University

Stanford University Assistant Professor of Psychology Judy Fan will speak at the BCS Colloquium in conjunction with the Quest for Intelligence on Thursday, March 20th, in a talk titled "Cognitive Tools for Making the Invisible Visible."

group photo of BMM summer school participants standing on a dock, behind 4 upturned boats

Opportunity

Brains, Minds, and Machines Summer School

Registration is now open for the 2025 BMM Summer School to be held in Woods Hole, MA, from August 3 to August 24. This intensive three-week course gives advanced students a “deep end” introduction to the problem of intelligence — how the brain produces intelligent behavior and how we may be able to replicate intelligence in machines.

Project

Quest Robotics/Embodied Intelligence (QREI)

The Quest Engineering Team collaborated with the Embodied Intelligence Mission to develop a system that facilitates experimentation and benchmarking in the Quest Robotics/Embodied Intelligence development cycle.

CBMM logo

Our Roots

Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines

The Quest for Intelligence is built on the Foundations of CBMM, a a multi-institutional NSF Science and Technology Center dedicated to the study of intelligence — how the brain produces intelligent behavior and how we may be able to replicate intelligence in machines.

Event

Colloquium, March 20: Judy Fan, Stanford University

Stanford University Assistant Professor of Psychology Judy Fan will speak at the BCS Colloquium in conjunction with the Quest for Intelligence on Thursday, March 20th, in a talk titled "Cognitive Tools for Making the Invisible Visible."

group photo of BMM summer school participants standing on a dock, behind 4 upturned boats

Opportunity

Brains, Minds, and Machines Summer School

Registration is now open for the 2025 BMM Summer School to be held in Woods Hole, MA, from August 3 to August 24. This intensive three-week course gives advanced students a “deep end” introduction to the problem of intelligence — how the brain produces intelligent behavior and how we may be able to replicate intelligence in machines.

    Missions + Platforms

    To understand intelligence, the Quest fosters and funds research Missions.

    • Scaling Inference

      The Scaling Inference team pursues an alternate scaling route for AI systems and for NI models, based on inference in probabilistic programs. Read More

    • Brain-Score

      The Brain-Score platform aims to yield accurate, machine-executable computational models of how the brain gives rise to the mind. Read More

    • Embodied Intelligence

      The Embodied Intelligence mission addresses how we perceive the world around us and integrate this information to plan and complete tasks. Read More

    • Language

      The Language mission aims to understand the relationship between language and human intelligence. Read More

    • Intelligence Observatory

      The Intelligence Observatory works with researchers in the Missions using the Quest VR lab and other tools to capture data. Read More

    • Perceptual Intelligence

      The Perceptual Intelligence mission aims  to produce machine executable models of human visual intelligence. Read More

    • The Development of Intelligent Minds

      This mission aims to understand how children grasp new concepts and build upon layers of concepts to reach an understanding of the world. Read More

    See all Missions + Platforms »

    News

    • Tomás Lozano-Pérez elected to membership in NAE

      Professor Tomás Lozano-Pérez is one of the 150 new members of the National Academy of Engineering.

    • Prof. Ev Fedorenko to receive Troland Research Award

      The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently announced that MIT Associate Professor Evelina Fedorenko will receive a 2025 Troland Research Award for her groundbreaking contributions toward understanding the language network in the human brain.

    • Teaching robots their limits

      The “PRoC3S” method helps an LLM create a viable action plan by testing each step in a simulation. This strategy could eventually aid in-home robots to complete more ambiguous chore requests.

    See all news »