Do AI models think like our brains when playing video games?

Researchers recorded brain activity via fMRI while people played Atari-style games, then compared how well two types of foundation models (vision-language and action-specialized models) predicted neural activity. Action-focused models showed better alignment with brain regions for motor planning and reasoning, with the largest gains in frontal-parietal cortex. The finding suggests AI systems that specialize in action planning organize their internal representations more like human brains organizing decisions and movement—not just passive perception.