Everything on Measurement Methodology

METR's time horizon metric measures task difficulty in human-equivalent hours, not the duration of model execution. This distinction is crucial for understanding actual capability gains versus mere persistence.

Impact: Investors and enterprises can use this metric to better assess the practical value of AI models in reducing human labor time, rather than relying on misleading execution time claims.

— from METR AI Capability Metrics and Market Implications · Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast· Feb 27, 2026