The Missing Sense in AI: How Smell Could Redefine Intelligence

The article argues that while AI’s alleged sense of smell has been exaggerated, olfaction is deeply linked to cognition, memory and social interaction and could be essential for truly embodied AI and world models. It surveys the science of smell, current limitations of artificial olfaction and e-nose sensors, and industry efforts (like Osmo, ScentNet, Carto, Prada) to standardize olfactory data. Though recreating human-like smell remains challenging due to the complexity and lack of a universal odor map, integrating basic chemical sensing could greatly expand AI’s model of reality and unlock practical applications in healthcare, safety, consumer tech and beyond.