Brain development could hold lessons for building better artificial neural networks

Despite their overlapping interests, it is rare for developmental neuro biologists to consult artificial intelligence (AI) experts in the course of their research and vice versa. But in his new book, The Self-Assembling Brain, neurobiologist Peter Robin Hiesinger argues that doing so would likely be of great benefit to both parties. In 10 chapters, he describes a series of imagined conversations between four hypothetical individuals--a developmental geneticist, a neuroscientist, a robotics engineer, and an AI researcher--that offer readers insight into the information that is needed both to understand the workings of the brain and to create an artificial system that mimics the brain. These fictional conversations are followed by "seminars" in which the author discusses specific topics in greater detail. Hiesinger elegantly moves through a variety of topics, ranging from biological development to AI and ending with a discussion of the advances that deep neural networks have brought to the field of brain-machine interfaces.