The objective of CLIMB, a project led by Alessandro Lenci, a full professor of Linguistics at the Department of Philology, Literature, and Linguistics at the University of Pisa, is to create a new generation of artificial intelligence that acquires the ability to use language in a manner similar to that of humans from a young age. The proposal was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant, which is a distinguished grant given by the European Research Council to excellent scientists. CLIMB will receive over €2.5 million and be developed over a five-year period. At the center of the research are so-called Language Models, which are the linguistic models that underpin the most well-known generative AI applications, such as ChatGPT and Claude. These are computer systems that are capable of interacting with individuals in a more natural manner, translating content, answering queries, or producing text. These systems have produced astounding accomplishments in recent years, yet their operation differs significantly from that of humans. To learn a language, current models must be trained on massive amounts of data, but children, for example, acquire language through far less extensive experience, consisting of social interactions, communication, observation of the world, and cognitive skills that direct learning. This is when the project's struggle begins. "With CLIMB, we want to transcend the paradigm that building intelligent linguistic systems simply requires increasing the amount of data and the size of the models", the researchers state. "The goal is to create systems that learn language more like humans, combining insights from linguistics, cognitive science, and developmental psychology. This will enable us to not only better understand how human linguistic competence develops, but also to create more efficient, transparent, and long-lasting artificial intelligence systems".