BCIG Bookclub: “On Intelligence”
Clinical
Center (Building 10) Medical Board Room (Room 2C116)
“On Intelligence” says the neocortex is the seat of
intelligence and since the primary feature of the
neocortex is prediction then prediction is the hallmark
of intelligence. It goes on to say that to build ‘truly
intelligent’ machines/agents/entities we should
understand and model the neocortex. (Jim DeLeo)
We will present a prerecorded videocast of author Jeff
Hawkins talking about his book “On Intelligence.” We are
in dialogue with Jeff and it is most likely he will come
to the NIH later this year to talk at a BCIG event. We
are also attempting to bring together computer
scientists and neuroscientist with this BCIG Book Club
Meeting and with our future meeting with Jeff to
determine if we can work collaboratively regarding the
possibilities suggested in this book.
THE BOOK: B.F. Skinner said psychologists should
study stimuli and responses and ignore what goes on in the
brain. Have those of us working in AI and neural networks
focused too much on inputs and outputs rather than the
neurological system that connects them? Our author, Jeff
Hawkins claims that the neocortex is the “seat of
intelligence” and suggests that we build generalized
intelligent machines based on models of it. Arranged in
hierarchical fashion, the neocortex receives parallel inputs
from the senses and lower brain centers, extracts several
levels of features and stores feature patterns as associative
memory patterns. A feedback process to the senses is also
involved to affirm “hypothesized” patterns in recognition.
Hawkins suggests that effectiveness in using these patterns
for prediction tasks (which we are engaged in from sunrise to
sunset, and probably even in sleep) form the basis of
intelligence, which Hawkins defines as the capacity to
remember and predict patterns in the world, including
language, mathematics, physical properties of objects, and
social situations. Hawkins estimates that building such an
artificial brain would require a capacity of eight trillion
bytes of memory or about 80 times the memory of a typical
computer. He expects connectivity to be a more perplexing
problem than capacity. For example, even the axons of one
cell in the neocortex often connect to thousands of other
cells. There are also many puzzling features in this vast
neurological network, including the role of the numerous
feedback loops to lower-level areas. Still, he is confident
that persistent research efforts will overcome even such
formidable obstacles, most likely within the next decade. FACILITATORS:
Jim DeLeo and Carl Leonard will coordinate a team of volunteers who will review
the book. They will also show Jeff Hawkins’ prerecorded videocast about the
book. Jim Is a computer scientist in the NIH Clinical Center and he is the BCIG
chair and chief of the Scientific Computing Section in the NIH Clinical Center.
Carl Leonard will run the webcast operation. Carl is an electrical and computer
engineer contractor in the Scientific Computing Section where he works with Jim
on a variety of data warehousing, data mining, and podcasting projects. They
both have done a lot of work with biomedical applications of neural networks.
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5:30 pm- 7:30 pm April 27, 2006
ABOUT JEFF HAWKINS:
Jeff Hawkins has founded three companies, Palm Computing, Handspring, and
Numenta, and the non-profit Redwood Neuroscience Institute, a scientific
research institute focused on understanding how the human neocortex works. He
currently holds the positions of Chief Technical Officer at Palm Inc. and
co-founder of Numenta. At Palm, he is the architect of many computer products
including the PalmPilot and Treo handheld computers. At Numenta, he is
developing technology derived from the brain model described in his book "On
Intelligence". Numenta’s technology is a new type of memory architecture modeled
after the mammalian cortex that can solve problems in pattern recognition and
machine learning. In addition to his positions at Numenta and Palm, Mr. Hawkins
is a member of the scientific board of directors at Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory and he is on the advisory board of the Redwood Center for Theoretical
Neuroscience at University of California at Berkeley. Hawkins was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering in 2003. He earned his B.S. in electrical
engineering from Cornell University in 1979.
ABOUT: SANDRA BLAKESLEE:
Sandra Blakeslee is a science correspondent for the New York Times who
specializes in the neurosciences. "When Jeff Hawkins first called me and
described his theory of how the brain works, I was enchanted," Blakeslee said.
"I realized instantly that he had found a Rosetta Stone for explaining countless
mysteries of human behavior. Working with him was irresistible and, I'm proud to
say, a great honor." Blakeslee graduated from the University of California in
Berkeley in 1965 where she majored in political science. After serving as a
Peace Corps volunteer in Borneo, she returned to the United States and joined
the New York Times United Nations bureau as a news assistant. In 1968 she became
a staff writer in the science department in New York. In the early 1970s,
Blakeslee moved to California and began freelancing while raising two children.
After spending several years with her family in Africa and Europe, she returned
to California and worked briefly for the Los Angeles Times.In 1983, Blakeslee
rejoined the New York Times as a science correspondent and has continued writing
for the paper since then on special contract. She is now based in Santa Fe, New
Mexico.In 1995, Blakeslee and George Johnson, a New York Times colleague who
also lives in Santa Fe, began the Santa Fe Science Writing Workshop. "We bring
top science writers to town each year to be our faculty and help students learn
what the field is all about," she said. "Everyone goes home charged up. It's a
wonderful experience to mentor new writers." Blakeslee is coauthor of several
books with Dr. Judith Wallerstein on the effects of divorce on children: Second
Chances, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce and What About the Kids as well as a
book on what makes marriage work, The Good Marriage. She also coauthored a book,
Phantoms in the Brain, with psychologist and neurologist Dr. Vilay Ramachandran
of UCSD.
SUITABILITY:
Anyone interested in the subject matter of the book is most welcome to attend
this BCIG Book Club Event. The book is very readable, considering the topic.
Anyone interested in contemporary science will want to read it. Current or
potential students of computer science, neurobiology, psychology, cognitive
sciences, linguistics and related disciplines will find it challenging and
inspirational.
REGISTRATION:
As with most all BCIG events, registration is not required. Just show up happy.
NIH CONTACT:
Carl Leonard, 301-496-0191,
cleonard@lired.com
REFRESHMENTS:
Please bring refreshments if you wish. There is a cafeteria near our meeting
room. We may go out to dinner with the author in a nearby Bethesda restaurant
after the meeting.
BCIG WEB SITE:
www.nih-bcig.org
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