Thursday Morning Talk with Jakub Limanowski (TU Dresden): Precision control as a mechanism for shaping body models

When controlling action — e.g., hand movements — the brain typically relies on seen and felt posture information to represent 'its' body. It is thought that the brain combines these estimates into a multisensory (e.g. hand) representation in a probabilistic fashion, accounting for how reliable each estimate is in the given context. I will present

SCIoI at Brain Awareness Week – Becoming Aware Through Mindfulness

A Brain Awareness Week event organized by Scholar Minds and in collaboration with Science of Intelligence and the Berlin School of Mind and Brain "We from Scholar Minds and in collaboration with Science of Intelligence and the Berlin School of Mind and Brain want to invite you to our online event on Thursday, 18th of

SCIoI at Brain Awareness Week – Visual Illusions and Perception

A lab demonstration on optical illusions for Brain Awareness Week, organized by SCIoI + Active Perception and Cognition Lab (Martin Rolfs) "We from the active perception and cognition lab would like to invite you to our online event on Friday, March 19th at 6pm, for a presentation on visual illusions. Our lab is located at

For the Public

Workshop on Intelligence and Abilities (SCIoI/Human Abilities – Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, HU Berlin)

This two-day workshop, co-organised by the Berlin-based Science of Intelligence Cluster and Human Abilities – Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, brings together philosophers and cognitive scientists to discuss the relationships between intelligence and abilities in humans, nonhuman animals, and artificial systems. Is intelligence best seen as an ability? How to understand cognitive abilities

PI Lecture

Oliver Brock (Science of Intelligence): 5 Things I Think About (Out Loud)

Abstract: Oliver Brock will talk about these five things: 1) Is intelligence non-decomposable? 2) Does intelligence require multiple computational paradigms? 3) To neuroscience or not to neuroscience? 4) A principle of intelligence? 5) It's all about the prior Each section will be followed by Q&A&D. The Zoom Link will be sent the day before the

TEDxHUBerlin, Talk by Dimitri Coelho Mollo: “Getting serious about the “I” in AI”

The event, called “AI: A Tough Love” explores the connection between the calculating machine and the human being, and attempts to understand in what ways do the worlds of humans, nature, and technology collide. Throughout the afternoon, six great speakers will take a snapshot of today’s AI world to reflect on the current state of

European Funding for Bottom-up Research: The European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA)

On Thursday 22 April 2021 EU Officers from the four institutions of the Berlin University Alliance (Edda Nitschke, FUB; Caroline Schleier, HUB; Elke Gehweiler, TUB; Mara Klein, Charité) will visit SCIoI and introduce European funding opportunities for bottom-up research. The focus will be on the grants offered by the European Research Council (ERC) as well

For the Public

SCIoI at Girls’ Day/Mädchen-Zukunftstag: Meet a Vision Scientist – Einblicke in die Wahrnehmungsforschung (Lynn Schmittwilken)

Girls' Day/Mädchen-Zukunftstag, happening digitally on 22 April, provides school girls around Germany with a day of informative activities aimed at guiding them in their career choices, focusing on career paths where women are usually underrepresented. SCIoI member Lynn Schmittwilken talks to school-aged girls about being a vision scientist. The event is in German. "In unserer

PI Lecture

Oliver Brock (Science of Intelligente): 5 Things I Think About (Out Loud), Part 2

Abstract: Oliver Brock will continue exploring about these five things: 1) Is intelligence non-decomposable? 2) Does intelligence require multiple computational paradigms? 3) To neuroscience or not to neuroscience? 4) A principle of intelligence? 5) It’s all about the prior The Zoom Link will be sent the day before the lecture. (Contact communication@scioi.de for specific questions)

Distinguished Speaker Series

Peter Dayan, (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics), “Peril, Prudence and Planning as Risk, Avoidance and Worry”

On Zoom

Speaker: Peter Dayan, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, https://www.mpg.de/12309357/biologische-kybernetik-dayan Hosted by Henning Sprekeler; moderated by Robert Tjarko Lange Peril, Prudence and Planning as Risk, Avoidance and Worry Risk occupies a central role in both the theory and practice of decision-making. Although it is deeply implicated in many conditions involving dysfunctional behavior and thought, modern

PI Lecture

Martin Rolfs (Science of Intelligence), “Looking for Action in Perception”

On Zoom

Abstract Actions affect perception directly and in multiple ways, exerting their influence (1) by modifying parts of the external world, (2) through internal processes accompanying movement preparation, and (3) through the sensory consequences of moving the sensory surface itself (i.e., in vision, the retina). To understand these influences, psychology and neuroscience have long recognized the

PI Lecture

Marc Toussaint (Science of Intelligence), “Do We Need Reasoning?”

On Zoom

Reasoning (or planning, rational decision making) seems a core aspect of intelligence -- but what exactly does that mean? If we observe clever behavior in an animal, can we claim it is based on reasoning? And doesn't the success of deep RL show us that we (as engineers) do not need reasoning? I'll discuss reasoning