Lesson
Predict before you act
Build the central mental model: an agent uses learned dynamics to test futures before spending real-world interaction.
Narrated mechanism
Use this shorter explanation to trace the mechanism, implementation order, and failure checks.
1
Distinguish an observation, a latent state, a trajectory, and an imagined rollout
2
Trace the difference between reactive control and model-based deliberation
3
Explain when a world model can reduce real-world interaction and when it cannot
Knowledge check
Make the model stick
1. Which item is an imagined rollout?
2. Why maintain history when the latest observation is available?
3. A learned simulator predicts perfectly for two steps but drifts after ten. What is the safest use?