On December 31, 2021, the neuroscientist Peter Rupprecht from the Brain Research Institute at the University of Zürich published a book review of The Self-Assembling Brain as the topic of his annual end-of-the-year report on intuitions about the brain. This is such a thoughtful review, both in its praise and critique, that I asked Peter for permission to post it…
Princeton University Press will release the Paperback of The Self-Assembling Brain in December! Check out reviews in Science, TechTalks, on goodreads & amazon, …and a series of podcasts. How does a neural network become a brain? While developmental neurobiologists investigate how genes encode the growth of intricate connectivity as a basis for learning, computer scientists design artificial neural networks with…
The June 2021 Lecture ‘The Self-Assembling Brain’ has now been watched more than 100.000 times on youtube, with 3.600 likes. Well, maybe not much in a world of internet celebrities, but remember, this is only a lecture on the brain and AI, with very little in the direction of self-help and zero pictures of cute cats… Thank you again to…
In his book ‘The Myth of Artificial Intelligence’ Erik Larson makes the argument that there is no known instance of any known type of intelligence producing something more intelligent than itself. Of course, past failure need not predict future failure. Unless there is a fundamental roadblock. So, let’s explore what can produce intelligence, shall we? The futurist’s notion remains that…
Paul Middlebrooks from braininspired.co: ‘Robin and I discuss many of the ideas in his book The Self-Assembling Brain: How Neural Networks Grow Smarter. The premise is that our DNA encodes an algorithmic growth process that unfolds information via time and energy, resulting in a connected neural network (our brains!) imbued with vast amounts of information from the “start”. This contrasts…
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has founded a new research unit headed by Peter Robin Hiesinger that will examine the fundamental principles of brain development. The research unit includes thirteen principal investigators who are involved in nine closely linked research projects that explore how variability affects brain development despite identical genetic information. The researchers working in the nine projects within…
Babies are not born with randomly connected brains and turned on to learn. And yet, 100 years ago, neurobiologists were not so sure. In fact, most of them rather liked the idea, because they disliked the alternative: the development of intelligent brains without learning – as if embryo development could determine who you are. 100 years ago, neurobiologists had only…
Bridging the Gaps: A Portal for Curious Minds has released a 1-hour podcast in which Waseem Akhtar and Robin Hiesinger discuss the motivation and thesis of ‘The Self-Assembling Brain’. This is a wide-ranging discussion, starting with the history of neurobiologists arguing about the existence of neurons as physiological units that need to ‘wire up’, to the question: How does information…
Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. It provides an interactive platform for all books of the world to be discussed, reviewed and recommended to fellow readers. As of October 2021, The Self-Assembling Brain has been added by 150 readers and received 11 ratings with an average of 4.73 (out of 5). The reviews are truly…
A curious interview – by an Artificial Intelligence from the future, trying to understand humans. What can The Self-Assembling Brain tell us? Podcast available here: Google Podcasts Spotify