What do brains and AI actually have in common, and how do they differ? Xaq will talk about cutting-edge research in neuroscience and machine learning. On the AI side, he’ll talk about generative AI like Large Language Models and video generation, and whether AI can truly be creative. On the brain side, he’ll describe what we’ve learned from cutting-edge brain scanning technology that uses diamond knives, electron microscopes, and glow-in-the-dark jellyfish.

Xaq Pitkow is a computational neuroscientist who uses mathematics to understand how brains and AI work. He has a PhD in biophysics from Harvard, and is currently an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the Associate Director of the NSF AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence. On the side, he enjoys art and graphic design, which turns out to be very helpful when communicating about science.