On Intelligence
by Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeff Hawkins, Sandra BlakesleeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-08-01
ISBN: 0805078533
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Book Reviews of On Intelligence
Book Review: The brain as a "pattern device" that works through memory
Summary: 5 Stars
"Prediction is not just one of the things your brain does. It is the primary function of the neocortex, and the foundation of intelligence." (p. 89)
Perhaps the crux of Hawkins's insight into how our brains work and how that is different from how computers work can be gleaned from considering how to catch a ball in flight.
It used to be thought that such tasks were solved by the brain through calculation. The brain would calculate the flight of the ball, adjusting the muscles of the body appropriately so as to arrive at a spot where the ball would be and grab it. Artificial intelligence people working on robots used this method and found out that it was enormously complex, so much so that the robots remained clumsy (and not about to play centerfield for the New York Yankees).
What Hawkins is saying is that the brain does NOT calculate the flight of the ball but instead recalls from memory similar flights of balls while at the same time recalling again from memory the muscular workings of the body as it went after and caught or did not catch similar balls in flight. After a bit of practice (storing memories) a person can get very good at catching balls.
In other words the brain predicts where the ball is going to be not through a laborious and lengthy calculation but through memories of similar events. This is a startling insight. Hawkins shows how everything we do is based on our brain's ability to predict events based on previous experience. Here's how it works:
First there is a "sequence of patterns" of past events stored in the brain.
Second, the brain has an "auto-associative mechanism" that allows it to "recall complete patterns when given only partial or distorted inputs." (p. 73) Unlike computer intelligence, human intelligence can figure out that "Wass up?" means the same thing as "What's up?" or that a face seen from one angle is the same as that face seen from another angle or even seen in some sort of distortion. This is something computers cannot reliably do.
Third, the brain stores "invariant representations" of things seen, heard, felt, etc. "Invariant" in this context means unaffected by differences in light or tone or inflection or background or any one of millions of small, inessential differences that could throw us off. These representations are not exact. They are in a way like Plato's ideal forms except they are not ideal but generalized. They are memories of the relationships between and among various features. In the case of a human face, Hawkins writes that what makes a face recognizable "are its relative dimensions, relative colors, and relative proportions, not how it appeared one instant last Tuesday at lunch." (p. 81)
Hawkins's definition of intelligence in terms of predictive ability is what I found most exciting in the book. When people talk about intelligence I usually want to demand "intelligence for what?" since the criteria for defining intelligence has always been so muddied. One of the ways of establishing a theory in science is through its ability to make accurate predictions. To judge the brain the same way seems strikingly right. Not only that but no longer do we have to beg the question of what intelligence is. It is the ability to predict.
These predictions are about everything in our lives and they involve all of our senses. As Hawkins puts it, "All regions of your neocortex are simultaneously trying to predict what their next experience will be. Visual areas make predictions about edges, shapes, objects, locations, and motions. Auditory areas make predictions about tones, direction to source, and patterns of sound. Somatosensory areas make predictions about touch, texture, contour, and temperature." (pp. 88-89)
While the first five chapters are eminently readable and exciting, Chapter 6, "How the Cortex Works" (the longest in the book) might be a bit tedious and technical for the general reader. (I know it was for me.)
In Chapter 7, "Consciousness and Creativity" Hawkins writes, "Most of what you perceive is not coming through your senses; it is generated by your internal memory model." (p. 202) We do not experience the world directly and we do not interpret it objectively. Our predictions in a sense are prejudices or stereotypes that sometimes lead us astray. Hawkins writes, "...you could substitute the word 'stereotype' for 'invariant memory'...without substantially altering the meaning. Prediction by analogy is pretty much the same as judgment by stereotype." (p. 203)
In the final chapter, "The Future of Intelligence" Hawkins makes it clear that intelligent machines will not be taking over the world. He writes, "The computer in your home, or the Internet, has as much chance of spontaneously turning sentient as does a cash register." (p. 214) Furthermore, an intelligent machine "will not have a mind that is remotely humanlike unless we imbue it with humanlike emotional systems and humanlike experiences. That would be extremely difficult and, it seems to me, quite pointless." (p. 208). Finally, fears that machines will take over the world "rest on a false analogy...a conflation of intelligence...with the emotional drives of the old brain--things like fear, paranoia, and desire. But intelligent machines will not have these faculties. They will not have personal ambition. They will not desire wealth, social recognition, or sensual gratification. They will not have appetites, addictions, or mood disorders." (p. 216)
Hawkins goes on to predict that, with an approach based on learning and memory instead of brute calculation, we will build truly intelligent machines, the applications of which will be numerous and include applications impossible to predict.
I would like to point out that Hawkins' idea that our cortex is continually making predictions about the environment, predictions that we scarcely notice unless they are wrong, is similar to an idea that John McCrone presented in his book Going Inside: A Tour Round a Single Moment of Consciousness (2001), a book I also highly recommend.
Summary of On Intelligence
From the inventor of the PalmPilot comes a new and compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines
Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intelligence itself.
Hawkins develops a powerful theory of how the human brain works, explaining why computers are not intelligent and how, based on this new theory, we can finally build intelligent machines.
The brain is not a computer, but a memory system that stores experiences in a way that reflects the true structure of the world, remembering sequences of events and their nested relationships and making predictions based on those memories. It is this memory-prediction system that forms the basis of intelligence, perception, creativity, and even consciousness.
In an engaging style that will captivate audiences from the merely curious to the professional scientist, Hawkins shows how a clear understanding of how the brain works will make it possible for us to build intelligent machines, in silicon, that will exceed our human ability in surprising ways.
Written with acclaimed science writer Sandra Blakeslee, On Intelligence promises to completely transfigure the possibilities of the technology age. It is a landmark book in its scope and clarity.
Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intelligence itself.
Hawkins develops a powerful theory of how the human brain works, explaining why computers are not intelligent and how, based on this new theory, we can finally build intelligent machines.
The brain is not a computer, but a memory system that stores experiences in a way that reflects the true structure of the world, remembering sequences of events and their nested relationships and making predictions based on those memories. It is this memory-prediction system that forms the basis of intelligence, perception, creativity, and even consciousness.
In an engaging style that will captivate audiences from the merely curious to the professional scientist, Hawkins shows how a clear understanding of how the brain works will make it possible for us to build intelligent machines, in silicon, that will exceed our human ability in surprising ways.
Written with acclaimed science writer Sandra Blakeslee, On Intelligence promises to completely transfigure the possibilities of the technology age. It is a landmark book in its scope and clarity.
Jeff Hawkins, the high-tech success story behind PalmPilots and the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, does a lot of thinking about thinking. In On Intelligence Hawkins juxtaposes his two loves--computers and brains--to examine the real future of artificial intelligence. In doing so, he unites two fields of study that have been moving uneasily toward one another for at least two decades. Most people think that computers are getting smarter, and that maybe someday, they'll be as smart as we humans are. But Hawkins explains why the way we build computers today won't take us down that path. He shows, using nicely accessible examples, that our brains are memory-driven systems that use our five senses and our perception of time, space, and consciousness in a way that's totally unlike the relatively simple structures of even the most complex computer chip. Readers who gobbled up Ray Kurzweil's (The Age of Spiritual Machines and Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open will find more intriguing food for thought here. Hawkins does a good job of outlining current brain research for a general audience, and his enthusiasm for brains is surprisingly contagious. --Therese Littleton
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