Gerald Hahn, MD, PhD

Agents are at the centre of attention in artificial intelligence right now. They promise to bring a new level of automation by solving problems on their own, using thinking and planning similar to humans. This could greatly improve productivity for both individuals and businesses. Yet, users may face issues with reliability and trust due to the well-known hallucination problem of large language models (LLMs), which form the core of AI agents. Another concern is the difficulty LLMs still have with robust planning and reasoning, which may still fall short of the human-like abilities that are promised.

In 1950, Alan Turing asked the famous question: "Can machines think?". Recognizing that a thought is hard to define, Turing proposed a different approach. Instead of trying to describe it, he suggested we look at how machines behave. He introduced the "imitation game," now known as the Turing Test. : if a machine’s responses are indistinguishable from those of a human, it is said to have passed the test.

Burnout has become a widespread and increasingly serious issue in today’s workforce. It is drawing more public attention as high-profile figures—athletes, musicians, actors, and politicians—step away from their careers due to exhaustion. Burnout typically manifests itself through constant fatigue, high stress, and emotional distancing from work and colleagues. Employees who experience burnout often feel less effective, and they lose motivation or struggle to maintain their usual performance.

People found it hard to believe when Jürgen Klopp, a highly accomplished football coach, publicly quit his job at Liverpool FC in early 2024. His explanation: 'I am running out of energy'. Despite many success stories he had accomplished for the club, he felt so worn out that he believed he could no longer perform as well as his fans expected. His reasoning was simple. Just like a car that eventually runs out of fuel, it was the right moment for him to take a break before his own tank ran empty. So, he pulled the plug. This was unexpected for many, but it was also seen as admirable for openly sharing his state of mind with the public.

For about 1% of people around the globe, there comes a time when their world turns upside down entirely. It often begins during adolescence with trouble focusing, memory, and making plans. Thinking clearly becomes harder. Along with these cognitive problems, patients notice what are called negative symptoms: emotions fade, motivation drops, and it becomes hard to connect with others. It gets more alarming when other symptoms appear: hearing threatening voices, seeing or smelling unusual things (hallucinations), feeling persecuted, or believing unusual ideas (delusions). These symptoms, known as positive symptoms by psychiatrists, are all signs of psychosis.