What researchers are saying
Chollet says evolution favours generality because specialists break
François Chollet, creator of Keras
Chollet wrote that evolution optimises for generality and robustness, since overspecialised species become fragile when environments shift.
In the Daily Brief of 2 November 2026
François Chollet posted that evolution selects for generality and robustness because species that overspecialise become fragile when their environment changes. The short thread drew an implicit parallel with how artificial intelligence is measured today, where systems are tuned to fixed benchmarks.
The analogy is Chollet’s own and rests on no new data. Replies explored how far the comparison holds.