Some researchers propose that advancing AI to the next level will require an internal architecture that more closely mirrors the human mind. Rufin VanRullen joins Brian Greene to discuss early results from one such approach based on the Global Workspace Theory of consciousness.
Following initial training in Maths and Computer Science, Rufin VanRullen obtained a PhD in Cognitive Science from Toulouse (France) under the supervision of Simon Thorpe. After a postdoc with Christof Koch at Caltech, he joined CerCo (Toulouse, France) in 2001 as a CNRS Research Scientist and became a CNRS Research Director in 2010. He was a visiting scientist at the Harvard Vision Lab from 2005 to 2007 with Patrick Cavanagh. He has published influential papers on neural coding, object recognition, feed-forward vs. feedback processes, and attention. His recent research explores the perceptual consequences of oscillatory brain activity, using visual illusions as well as advanced electrophysiological techniques (EEG single-trial, time-frequency analyses) and computational models. He has convinced many colleagues that at least some aspects of visual perception operate rhythmically rather than continuously. He is currently the Chief Editor of Frontiers in Perception Science.
Brian Randolph Greene is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the chairman of the World Science Festival, which he co-founded in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds.
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