Faculties

Google DeepMind’s 2026 framework splits general intelligence into eight building blocks and two composite faculties that combine them. Each page shows where people and frontier models stand, and what the test items look like.

8 building blocks2 compositesHumans lead on 4/10Full list ↓

Cognitive profile

Click a faculty to open its page.

Human referenceOur estimateBest published AILabel = human − AI, points

All faculties

10 rows

Faculty	Type	Human	Best AI	Gap	Benchmarks	Items
Perception Taking in information from the world and making sense of it.	building block	91.4	78.4	+13.0	2	13
Generation Producing words, images, sounds or actions, and executing them well, including under constraints.	building block	50.0	84.9	-34.9	2	8
Attention Focusing on what matters and filtering out distractors that look relevant.	building block	~95.0	51.0	+44.0	3	15
Learning Picking up new rules or skills from examples or feedback, then applying them.	building block	100.0	99.9	+0.1	3	15
Memory Holding on to information over time and retrieving it when needed.	building block	87.9	66.5	+21.4	2	11
Reasoning Drawing valid conclusions: deduction, induction, analogy and maths.	building block	69.7	96.4	-26.7	3	15
Metacognition Knowing what you know: spotting broken questions, judging your confidence.	building block	~45.0	100.0	-55.0	3	18
Executive functions Planning, switching strategy when rules change, inhibiting old habits.	building block	92.0	74.5	+17.5	3	10
Problem solving Combining faculties to solve problems, from novel puzzles to common sense.	composite	83.7	81.9	+1.8	2	14
Social cognition Understanding what people think, feel and mean without saying it.	composite	84.4	80.0	+4.4	2	10