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I was disappointed by A Thousand Brains. The last part of the book veered into ... I don't really know. On the other hand, I loved Jeff Hawkins' earlier book on

I was disappointed by A Thousand Brains. The last part of the book veered into ... I don't really know. On the other hand, I loved Jeff Hawkins' earlier book on this topic: On Intelligence [1]. It's easily one of the top 5 books that I've read and the first part of A Thousand Brains recaps much of that work, so still relevant today according to the author. [1] https://numenta.com/resources/on-intelligence/ https://numenta.com/resources/on-intelligence/

GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago
To me, top level, this seemed like a re-discovery of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mind but with more detail as to how the actual neocortex works. I think the most important part of 'kilobrain' was the clear description of a single Functional Unit, that appears to be replicated throughout the neocortex and, ultimately, performs all functions we consider 'higher'. This, in a way, reduces Applied Intelligence to building an actual 'Function Unit' in something other than meatware (e.g. CMOS); and having high-bandwidth ways to hook FU's together to build (at first) sub-parts of the brain (e.g. maybe the auditory system). This would be an "MVP" type proof-of-concept that 'should' allow construction of a Full Brain. Now, exactly how such h/w would be 'programmed' (or trained) to perform said function -- that, I don't understand yet.
criddell 5y ago
How well regarded is the Numenta software regarded in the AI community?
- BoiledCabbage 5y ago
  It seemed like the ideas from On Intelligence were ahead of their time. I'm surprised it never seemed to pan out into anything industry leading (at least as far as I can tell). Did it just not get enough eyes and resources? Was it a flawed premise? I'd be curious to know more.
- TaupeRanger 5y ago
  Not well. They have almost literally nothing to show for over a decade of work.
  - nefitty 5y ago
    Coincidentally, their own links to their research paper section results in an error https://numenta.com/neuroscience-research/research-publications/papers/ https://numenta.com/neuroscience-research/research-publicati...
paulclinger 5y ago
I had a similar reaction. I very much enjoyed reading On Intelligence shortly after it was published and was eagerly waiting for A Thousand Brains, but it left me with a conflicting impression. I found some of the details I was looking for missing and it seemed like the book was sort of all over the place (especially in the second half). I was reading another book on related topic (how the brain operates and why/how the consciousness has evolved) at about the same time (The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness) and had a much more positive impression with a good picture on what the author was trying to convey.

GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago

To me, top level, this seemed like a re-discovery of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mind but with more detail as to how the actual neocortex works. I think the most important part of 'kilobrain' was the clear description of a single Functional Unit, that appears to be replicated throughout the neocortex and, ultimately, performs all functions we consider 'higher'. This, in a way, reduces Applied Intelligence to building an actual 'Function Unit' in something other than meatware (e.g. CMOS); and having high-bandwidth ways to hook FU's together to build (at first) sub-parts of the brain (e.g. maybe the auditory system). This would be an "MVP" type proof-of-concept that 'should' allow construction of a Full Brain. Now, exactly how such h/w would be 'programmed' (or trained) to perform said function -- that, I don't understand yet.

criddell 5y ago

How well regarded is the Numenta software regarded in the AI community?

BoiledCabbage 5y ago
It seemed like the ideas from On Intelligence were ahead of their time. I'm surprised it never seemed to pan out into anything industry leading (at least as far as I can tell). Did it just not get enough eyes and resources? Was it a flawed premise? I'd be curious to know more.
TaupeRanger 5y ago
Not well. They have almost literally nothing to show for over a decade of work.
- nefitty 5y ago
  Coincidentally, their own links to their research paper section results in an error https://numenta.com/neuroscience-research/research-publications/papers/ https://numenta.com/neuroscience-research/research-publicati...

paulclinger 5y ago

I had a similar reaction. I very much enjoyed reading On Intelligence shortly after it was published and was eagerly waiting for A Thousand Brains, but it left me with a conflicting impression. I found some of the details I was looking for missing and it seemed like the book was sort of all over the place (especially in the second half). I was reading another book on related topic (how the brain operates and why/how the consciousness has evolved) at about the same time (The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness) and had a much more positive impression with a good picture on what the author was trying to convey.