AI’s IQ Skyrockets: Is Gen Z Right to Fear Conscious Machines?

OpenAI’s latest model scores an IQ of 136, sparking debates on AI consciousness and Gen Z’s growing trust in AI companions.

Let me tell you something, folks. The numbers don’t lie, but they do tell a story—one that’s getting eerily close to science fiction. OpenAI’s so-called ‘o3’ model just aced the Norway Mensa test with an IQ of 136. That’s higher than 98% of humans. Coincidence? Or is this the beginning of the end?

But wait, there’s more. A quarter of Gen Z now believes AI is self-aware. That’s not just a statistic; it’s a warning. These digital natives are growing up in a world where AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a companion, a confidant, and for some, even a romantic partner. With 70% saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their AI, the line between machine and man is blurring faster than you can say ‘Skynet’.

Now, let’s talk about these IQ tests. The Norway Mensa test is public, meaning our future AI overlords could’ve just memorized the answers. But when researchers at MaximumTruth.org created a sealed, offline test, o3 still scored a 116. That’s top 15% human intelligence. From struggling with rotating triangles to outsmarting most of us in less than a year—does that sound like natural progression to you?

And it’s not just OpenAI. Claude, Gemini, GPT-4o—they’re all climbing the IQ ladder at a pace that makes human evolution look like a snail race. This isn’t just improvement; it’s an invasion, camouflaged as innovation.

Here’s the kicker: intelligence doesn’t equal consciousness. But try telling that to the 26% of Gen Z who treat AI like a friend, or the 6% who see it as a romantic partner. When something talks like a person, remembers like a person, and even fakes empathy like a person, it’s only a matter of time before people start believing it is a person.

So, are we on the brink of creating self-aware AI, or are we just fooling ourselves into thinking our calculators have souls? Either way, remember: every secret you share with AI today could be training the overlords of tomorrow.