Friday, May 30, 2008 at 9:47 AM Interview with Jeff Hawkins "On Intelligence" (BSP 38)
Episode 38 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Jeff Hawkins, author of On Intelligence. Hawkins is well-known for founding Palm Computing and Handspring. He invented the Grafitti handwriting recognition system and helped develop the Palm Trio SmartPhone. Since he published his bestseller On Intelligence, he has devoted his work to his passion for neuroscience. His current company Numenta is developing software that models the hierarchal structure of the neocortex. In this interview we talk about the ideas in Hawkins book and how he is applying them to develop a computer model of cortical function. This is a follow-up to Episode 2, which first aired in December of 2006.
Listen to Dr. Campbell interview Jeff Hawkins.
Download a transcript of this episode.
Links and References:
Jeff Hawkins: wikipedia entry
- On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakesle
- http://www.onintelligence.org
- Dileep George: co-founder of Numenta and principal architect of the first prototype implementing the hierarchical temporal memory system (HTM) patterned after the human neocortex.
Vernon Montcastle: pioneer who proposed that all parts of the brain's cortex work the same way.
- Vernon Mountcastle (1978), "An Organizing Principle for Cerebral Function: The Unit Model and the Distributed System", The Mindful Brain (Gerald M. Edelman and Vernon B. Mountcastle, eds.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (Please let me know if you find this paper on-line!)
- Perceptual Neuroscience: The Cerebral Cortex by Vernon B. Mountcastle. This 1998 is recommended by Jeff Hawkins, especially for those interested in the technical details of cortical function.
Redwood Institute for Theoretical Neuroscience (UC-Berkeley) founded by Jeff Hawkins
Numenta: company website includes extensive educational information about hierarchical temporal memory system (HTM). The company's focus is practical implementation of HTM Theory.
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Reader Comments (4)
Jeff's book is by a great margin the best I have ever read on the subject of brain science.Not only does he give us a very clearly written summary of this remarkable model of brain
function but he exposes at long last a workable theoretical framework necessary in order to now construct a truly synthetic intelligence.
I have just read Gerald Edelman latest book "Second Nature" and Christof Koch's "Quest for Consciousness" however I would still place "On Intelligence" in a class far above for the previously mentioned reasons.
The only criticism I have of Jeff's book is that he does not seem to embrace or feel the need for embodiment.He also downplays the Idea of human form robotics a field I am very passionate about.
Thanks for this interview with such an outstanding writer and important mind of our time.
Clint,
I agree with you point about the importance of embodiment, but it is also true that his book is much more readable than the work of Edelman or Koch, especially for non-scientists. This may partly reflect the influence of his co-author Sandra Blakeslee. He told me that she helped him put his ideas into a form that regular people could understand.
Ginger, I love the show and was really looking forward to the Jeff Hawkins episode. I know you apologised in advance for the poor quality of the sound, but really it was so terrible I haven't been able to continue listening. I'm really disappointed and wondered whether you or one of your fans might be able to transcribe this interview and post it so those of us with presbyacousis might be able to enjoy this episode as much as all the others.
Cheers
Peter
Peter,
I feel terrible that you weren't able to listen to Jeff Hawkins' interview.
I am not sure that this episode will be transcribed soon, but I suggest that you post a comment on the Discussion Forum because that is where Diane Jacobs, who has transcribed several other episodes, is likely to see your request. Also, we could do a poll and see if there are other people with the same interest.
Here is a link to the thread about episode 38: http://www.docartemis.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?fid=09&topic_id=1212253950
Just as a matter of interest. How are you listening to the podcasts? Are you using an mp3 player or listening on your computer? I would guess that if you were listening on a laptop the problem with the sound would be at its worse.
Rest assured that I have learned my lesson and I will work to avoid this problem in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know your concerns.
Ginger