A Brief History of Intelligence

Why the Evolution of the Brain Holds the Key to the Future of AI

By: Max Bennett

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A Brief History of Intelligence bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the evolutionary story of how the brain came to be.

The entirety of the human brain’s 4-billion-year story can be summarised as the culmination of five evolutionary breakthroughs, starting from the very first brains, all the way to the modern human brains. Each breakthrough emerged from new sets of brain modifications, and equipped animals with a new suite of intellectual faculties.

These five breakthroughs are the organising map to this book, and they make up our itinerary for our adventure back in time. Each breakthrough also has fascinating corollaries to breakthroughs in AI. Indeed, there will be plenty of such surprises along the way. For instance: the innovation that enabled AI to beat humans in the game of Go – temporal difference reinforcement learning – was an innovation discovered by our fish ancestors over 500 million years ago. The solutions to many of the current mysteries in AI – such as ‘common sense’ – can be found in the tiny brain of a mouse. Where do emotions come from? Research suggests that they may have arisen simply as a solution to navigation in ancient worm brains. Unravelling this evolutionary story will reveal the hidden features of human intelligence and with them, just how your mind came to be.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Max Bennett (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

‘Max Bennett published two scientific papers on brain evolution that blew me away. Now he has turned these into a fabulous book, A Brief History of Brains. His friendly writing style, clear jargon-free prose, and well of information make this book a winner.’ Joseph LeDoux, Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Neural Science & Psychology at NYU, bestselling author of Anxious and A Deep History of Ourselves

‘Max Bennett gives a lively account of how brains evolved, and how the brain works today. A Brief History of Brains is engaging, comprehensive, and brimming with novel insights.’ Kent Berridge, James Olds Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at University of Michigan

Intelligence

This book offers fascinating account of the history of how human intelligence came to be. it also explains the challenges faced by AI to replicate human intelligence. Really interesting.