Solving Intelligence Requires New Research and Funding Models

Advancing intelligence research demands new funding models and dedicated institutions to address gaps in coordination, scale, and sustainability.

Copyright: thetransmitter.org – “Solving Intelligence Requires New Research and Funding Models”

We stand at the threshold of a new scientific revolution. The convergence of neuroscience, artificial intelligence and computing has created an unprecedented opportunity to understand intelligence itself. Just as deep-learning architectures inspired by neural circuits have revolutionized AI, insights from machine learning are now transforming our understanding of the brain. This virtuous cycle between biological and artificial intelligence is poised to drive rapid progress in both fields—but only if we can coordinate research at sufficient scale.

Neuroscience has never been better positioned to make transformative discoveries about how intelligence emerges from neural circuits. But our intellectual and financial resources remain fragmented. To truly harness them, we need a new research model that can drive systematic breakthroughs. If we continue to rely on traditional research models that weren’t designed for the scale and complexity of intelligence science, we risk squandering this historic opportunity.

The recent mapping of an entire adult fruit fly brain—a watershed achievement that made headlines worldwide—offers a glimpse of what’s possible. But this breakthrough almost didn’t happen. It required the serendipitous alignment of support from three non-traditional funders: Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus imaged the complete fly brain; the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity drove the development of tools for scalable neural-circuit mapping through its MICrONS program; and the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative provided sustained support for data analysis[…]

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