Subvolts take Brain science fuels AI progress. Learn how DeepMind connects them. Aug 20, 2019 - Developers
- Understand how neuroscience principles can inspire new AI architectures and training methods.
- Business
- Learn about the fundamental research driving AI advancements, informing long-term strategy and innovation.
This episode features key leaders from Google DeepMind discussing foundational research connecting AI and neuroscience, offering deep insights into their work.
AI and Neuroscience: The virtuous circle
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Google DeepMind's "AI and Neuroscience: The virtuous circle" podcast episode features Demis Hassabis, Matt Botvinick, Jess Hamrick, Greg Wayne, and Koray Kavukcuoglu. Host Hannah Fry explores how the human brain informs AI development and vice versa. The discussion covers the parallels between training dogs and AI agents, and why simple human tasks are challenging for machines.
This podcast explores how studying the human brain helps build smarter AI. It also looks at how AI can teach us more about our own minds. Understanding these connections helps create more advanced artificial intelligence.
This episode offers insights into the foundational research connecting neuroscience and AI at Google DeepMind. It's for anyone interested in the fundamental principles driving AI progress, particularly how biological intelligence inspires artificial systems. The discussion highlights DeepMind's long-term approach to building more capable AI by understanding intelligence itself, a core tenet of their current work.
- HostHannah Fry
- GuestDemis HassabisCEO and co-founder, DeepMind
- GuestMatt BotvinickDirector of Neuroscience Research, DeepMind
- GuestJess Hamrickresearch scientist, DeepMind
- GuestGreg Wayneresearch scientist, DeepMind
- GuestKoray KavukcuogluDirector of Research, DeepMind
- Title: AI and Neuroscience: The virtuous circle
- Show: Google DeepMind: The Podcast
- Length: 34 minutes
- Interviewees: Demis Hassabis, Matt Botvinick, Jess Hamrick, Greg Wayne, Koray Kavukcuoglu
- Analogy: Our brains are like birds' wings.
- Commonality: Training a dog and an AI agent have commonalities.
What can the human brain teach us about AI? And what can AI teach us about our own intelligence? These questions underpin a lot of AI research. In this first episode, Hannah meets the DeepMind Neuroscience team to explore these connections and discovers how our brains are like birds’ wings, what training a dog and an AI agent have in common, and why the simplest things for people to do are, paradoxically, often the hardest for machines.
If you have a question or feedback on the series, message us on Twitter (@DeepMind using the hashtag #DMpodcast) or email us at podcast@deepmind.com.
Further reading
- BBC: An AI playlist
- Wait But Why: The AI Revolution
- Coursera: AI for everyone
- Medium: Machine Learning for Humans
- Google Arts & Culture: 25 moments that have defined AI
- Royal Society: What is Machine Learning?
- The Algorithm: A weeklyemail newsletter from MIT Tech Review
- DeepMind blog: neuroscience and AI: a virtuous circle
- Nature: Far-sighted birds plan breakfast the evening before
Interviewees in this episode: Deepmind CEO and co-founder, Demis Hassabis; Matt Botvinick, Director of Neuroscience Research; research scientists Jess Hamrick and Greg Wayne; and Director of Research, Koray Kavukcuoglu.
Credits:
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Editor: David Prest
Senior Producer: Louisa Field
Producers: Amy Racs, Dan Hardoon
Binaural Sound: Lucinda Mason-Brown
Music composition: Eleni Shaw (with help from Sander Dieleman and WaveNet)
Commissioned by DeepMind
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59 minQuestions people ask
- What is the main theme of this podcast episode?
- The episode explores the connections between AI research and neuroscience, examining what the human brain can teach us about AI and vice versa.
- Who are the guests on the episode?
- The guests include DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Director of Neuroscience Research Matt Botvinick, research scientists Jess Hamrick and Greg Wayne, and Director of Research Koray Kavukcuoglu.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Hannah Fry.