About a year before the conversation, language models could answer the speaker's PhD-thesis prompt at approximately an undergraduate level.

“over the last couple of years like giving this prompt in my thesis um a couple years ago well it was just chat so it couldn't do anything then a year ago it started answering things i would say at an undergraduate level um like that would have been my answer if this was like given to me as like a homework in undergraduate six months ago um it solved it right”