Birds do it; bees do it; maybe even fleas do it. Now scientists believe that artificial intelligence may need to sleep, and maybe dream, too.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are trying to understand computer systems that work like neurons in human brains. They discovered that artificial intelligence may need to sleep to function properly, according to a recent report in Scientific American.

“It probably won't surprise any teacher of young children that our networks become unstable after a period of continuous learning,” writes AI researcher Garrett Kenyon.

"However, when we exposed the networks to states analogous to the waves that living brains experience during sleep, stability was restored. It was as if we gave the neural networks the equivalent of a good, long nap."