22 January 2020 , 16:00 - 17:30

ScioI Lecture Series at TU Berlin: Alex Kacelnik (Oxford)

"What are minds and how do they work?"

Abstract:

The biological perspective on intelligence is well represented by the following quotes: “Is it not reasonable to anticipate that our understanding of the human mind would be aided greatly by knowing the purpose for which it was designed?” (George Williams) and “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” (Albert Einstein). Meanwhile, those working on synthetic approaches to intelligence are often inspired by Richard Feynman’s claim that “What I cannot create, I do not understand”. These quotes embody useful and inspiring questions for research on intelligence: why does it evolve, how specific is it, and to what extent can theoretical models that we create behave intelligently. I will describe studies of animal intelligent behaviour and our attempts to understand it.

https://www.scienceofintelligence.de/event/pi-lecture-series-alex-kacelnik-university-of-oxford/