Are we closer to the singularity? Is the current AI technology on the right path? Should we be afraid of AI or actually embrace it? And a more fundamental question: what is intelligence?

If you are interested in neuroscience and technology or artificial intelligence -or if you are just interested in being informed on these topics- we want to recommend you these two books: Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain by David Engelman and A Thousand Brains - A new theory of intelligence by Jeff Hawkins.

In our quest to understand what intelligence is, we should probably start with the brain, the human brain at least. Oh, but wait, there is no complete model of the brain, no universal theory of the brain! This was usually the response until very recently. But this is no longer the case: there are more and more theories that try to explain how the brain functions, how it learns and how it makes predictions. And these books talk about two of them.

Though their theories are not perfect and may not be fully correct, the fact that authors like Hawkins and Engelman dare to talk about a theory of the brain is a sign that we finally have enough understanding to come up with one.

Both books are captivating and easy to read (Richard Dawkins, who provides the foreword for Hawkins book, calls it “brilliant… exhilarating”) and are a great match to read in tandem. Jeff Hawkins wants to be sure the reader gets his model of the brain, so he spends quite some time explaining it. But, in doing this, he cuts short in examples and leaves the reader eager for more information. On the contrary, Engleman gives so many of them -about projects and experiments that prove the brain’s plasticity- that it is sometimes difficult to discern what the actual model is.

So, while one author spends a lot of time describing the forest, the other one seems to forget the forest because of the trees (but the trees are so beautifully described!). This, plus given the fact that each author presents a slightly different theory of the brain, makes these two books a great one. At least from our point of view.

By the way, neither of the two authors seem to see any great dangers in artificial general intelligence (or the arrival of the singularity). Hawkins is convinced that the dangers are the same as with any other technology and it depends on the human intentions. And because the AGI will only consist of the part that corresponds to the neocortex, Hawkins says that it will lack the inner desires and feelings that could give it a selfish goal. Engleman, on the other hand, seems to see only the enhancements and benefits that it will bring to humans. This contrasts a lot with what we have been hearing from other authors in the past years.

Books like these spark a lot of debates and discussions at Zander Labs and make our days livelier and more interesting. We wanted to share this with you and hopefully start a larger discussion.

Last but not least, here are two other recommended videos related to this topic:

A nice discussion by Melanie Mitchell of Santa Fe Institute

A great interview with Yuval Noah Harari

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