Colin Hales
@colinhales.bsky.social
Neuroscientist/Engineer. Researcher at the University of Melbourne. Mission: the creation of inorganic brain technology for machines that learn and handle novelty in the manner of natural intelligence. Main expertise: Brain electromagnetism.
Understanding the brain by modelling C-Elegans at the atomic level up.
How about just once, in the entire history of neuroscience, we also look at making an inorganic version of its nervous system that does NOT use a general purpose computer?
www.thetransmitter.org/computationa...
How about just once, in the entire history of neuroscience, we also look at making an inorganic version of its nervous system that does NOT use a general purpose computer?
www.thetransmitter.org/computationa...
Whole-brain, bottom-up neuroscience: The time for it is now
Applying new tools to entire brains, starting with C. elegans, offers the opportunity to uncover how molecules work together to generate neural physiology and how neurons work together to generate…
www.thetransmitter.org
November 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Understanding the brain by modelling C-Elegans at the atomic level up.
How about just once, in the entire history of neuroscience, we also look at making an inorganic version of its nervous system that does NOT use a general purpose computer?
www.thetransmitter.org/computationa...
How about just once, in the entire history of neuroscience, we also look at making an inorganic version of its nervous system that does NOT use a general purpose computer?
www.thetransmitter.org/computationa...
This is more than just a commercial bubble. Bursting it also bursts a science bubble... The computer cargo cult science paradigm, that has dogged "AI" for 75 years, finally gets a chance to end.
On this, I will reiterate my long-held nuanced position, which is:
1—AI *in current form* is the bubble to end all bubbles; and,
2—When it bursts, and the structural headwinds against people working on *other* forms break, we’re not far—within ~10 years—from AI with genuine transformative impact.+
1—AI *in current form* is the bubble to end all bubbles; and,
2—When it bursts, and the structural headwinds against people working on *other* forms break, we’re not far—within ~10 years—from AI with genuine transformative impact.+
There's been endless talk about an AI bubble, but less about exactly how, why, and how much it's a bubble. So I turned to the framework put forward by scholars Brent Goldfarb and David A. Kirsch, authors of "Bubbles and Crashes," for assessing tech bubbles.
Spoiler: On a scale of 1 to 8, AI is an 8
Spoiler: On a scale of 1 to 8, AI is an 8
October 28, 2025 at 12:03 AM
This is more than just a commercial bubble. Bursting it also bursts a science bubble... The computer cargo cult science paradigm, that has dogged "AI" for 75 years, finally gets a chance to end.
Saturday morning thought...
My prediction is that the real "Bitter Lesson" (www.cs.utexas.edu/~eunsol/cour...) will occur when the 75-year confusing, of "computations of abstract models of properties of nature" (computers), with the actual natural computation of brain signalling physics, ends.
My prediction is that the real "Bitter Lesson" (www.cs.utexas.edu/~eunsol/cour...) will occur when the 75-year confusing, of "computations of abstract models of properties of nature" (computers), with the actual natural computation of brain signalling physics, ends.
www.cs.utexas.edu
August 23, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Saturday morning thought...
My prediction is that the real "Bitter Lesson" (www.cs.utexas.edu/~eunsol/cour...) will occur when the 75-year confusing, of "computations of abstract models of properties of nature" (computers), with the actual natural computation of brain signalling physics, ends.
My prediction is that the real "Bitter Lesson" (www.cs.utexas.edu/~eunsol/cour...) will occur when the 75-year confusing, of "computations of abstract models of properties of nature" (computers), with the actual natural computation of brain signalling physics, ends.
Having fun in the @braininspired.bsky.social complexity email forum. They are going through the Santa Fe compendium of complexity science historic papers (Vol 1) while wearing a Neuro-AI hat.
Journal club zoom videos for each paper. I did Turing 1950.
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/tjRTCk8vpK...
Journal club zoom videos for each paper. I did Turing 1950.
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/tjRTCk8vpK...
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
August 16, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Having fun in the @braininspired.bsky.social complexity email forum. They are going through the Santa Fe compendium of complexity science historic papers (Vol 1) while wearing a Neuro-AI hat.
Journal club zoom videos for each paper. I did Turing 1950.
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/tjRTCk8vpK...
Journal club zoom videos for each paper. I did Turing 1950.
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/tjRTCk8vpK...
Reposted by Colin Hales
My continuing campaign to peek out from behind a decade or two of lab obscurity ... Another podcast interview of yours truly in relation to "the hole in science" called "consciousness", and how we're going with it.
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
#1: Consciousness, AGI, and the Hole at the Heart of Science - Dr. Colin Hales
imperfect, but improving's podcast debut!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
July 28, 2025 at 4:16 AM
My continuing campaign to peek out from behind a decade or two of lab obscurity ... Another podcast interview of yours truly in relation to "the hole in science" called "consciousness", and how we're going with it.
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
My continuing campaign to peek out from behind a decade or two of lab obscurity ... Another podcast interview of yours truly in relation to "the hole in science" called "consciousness", and how we're going with it.
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
#1: Consciousness, AGI, and the Hole at the Heart of Science - Dr. Colin Hales
imperfect, but improving's podcast debut!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
July 28, 2025 at 4:16 AM
My continuing campaign to peek out from behind a decade or two of lab obscurity ... Another podcast interview of yours truly in relation to "the hole in science" called "consciousness", and how we're going with it.
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kuPsCD1jmr...
Reposted by Colin Hales
Based on typical averages, an estimate of the active cell surface area that creates all signalling in the brain (action potential & direct EM field coupling) for a normal adult human brain (astrocytes + neurons) ..... it comes out at roughly 10,000 sq. m. 100m X 100m. It's a 1 Farad-ish capacitor.
July 19, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Based on typical averages, an estimate of the active cell surface area that creates all signalling in the brain (action potential & direct EM field coupling) for a normal adult human brain (astrocytes + neurons) ..... it comes out at roughly 10,000 sq. m. 100m X 100m. It's a 1 Farad-ish capacitor.
@hossenfelder.bsky.social latest video has 10 science myths.
Here's your #11 that you miss every time:
11. That scientific method creates observer independence.
It actually creates observation independence. To see this you need the science of consciousness.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35782039/
Here's your #11 that you miss every time:
11. That scientific method creates observer independence.
It actually creates observation independence. To see this you need the science of consciousness.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35782039/
Electromagnetism's Bridge Across the Explanatory Gap: How a Neuroscience/Physics Collaboration Delivers Explanation Into All Theories of Consciousness - PubMed
A productive, informative three decades of correlates of phenomenal consciousness (P-Consciousness) have delivered valuable knowledge while simultaneously locating us in a unique and unprecedented exp...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
July 13, 2025 at 10:59 PM
@hossenfelder.bsky.social latest video has 10 science myths.
Here's your #11 that you miss every time:
11. That scientific method creates observer independence.
It actually creates observation independence. To see this you need the science of consciousness.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35782039/
Here's your #11 that you miss every time:
11. That scientific method creates observer independence.
It actually creates observation independence. To see this you need the science of consciousness.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35782039/
And guess what? Those waves of activity are literally EM field. "What is it like to 'be' that EM field?"
Like being conscious!
Listen....
diamondmind.buzzsprout.com/2379515/epis...
Like being conscious!
Listen....
diamondmind.buzzsprout.com/2379515/epis...
July 9, 2025 at 10:50 PM
And guess what? Those waves of activity are literally EM field. "What is it like to 'be' that EM field?"
Like being conscious!
Listen....
diamondmind.buzzsprout.com/2379515/epis...
Like being conscious!
Listen....
diamondmind.buzzsprout.com/2379515/epis...
@anilseth.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social @irisvanrooij.bsky.social
I completely forgot about this 2011 formal disproof of computational functionalism. It predicts AGI will likely never happen with general purpose computers. Sorry about the pay wall!
www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1...
I completely forgot about this 2011 formal disproof of computational functionalism. It predicts AGI will likely never happen with general purpose computers. Sorry about the pay wall!
www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1...
ON THE STATUS OF COMPUTATIONALISM AS A LAW OF NATURE | International Journal of Machine Consciousness
www.worldscientific.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:09 AM
@anilseth.bsky.social @garymarcus.bsky.social @irisvanrooij.bsky.social
I completely forgot about this 2011 formal disproof of computational functionalism. It predicts AGI will likely never happen with general purpose computers. Sorry about the pay wall!
www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1...
I completely forgot about this 2011 formal disproof of computational functionalism. It predicts AGI will likely never happen with general purpose computers. Sorry about the pay wall!
www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1...
If you were building an inorganic artificial cortex with a view to replicating the cited paper's form of oscillatory computation, what would you be building?
1) a general purpose computer
2) inorganic chip with oscillatory behaviour based on the physics that does it in brains.
3) I don't know.
1) a general purpose computer
2) inorganic chip with oscillatory behaviour based on the physics that does it in brains.
3) I don't know.
New results: Oscillatory Control of Cortical Space as a Computational Dimension
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroscience
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#neuroscience
Oscillatory Control of Cortical Space as a Computational Dimension
Flexible cognition depends on the ability to represent and apply context, allowing the brain to interpret sensory input and guide behavior in a context-dependent manner. Recent work has proposed Spati...
www.biorxiv.org
June 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
If you were building an inorganic artificial cortex with a view to replicating the cited paper's form of oscillatory computation, what would you be building?
1) a general purpose computer
2) inorganic chip with oscillatory behaviour based on the physics that does it in brains.
3) I don't know.
1) a general purpose computer
2) inorganic chip with oscillatory behaviour based on the physics that does it in brains.
3) I don't know.
Reposted by Colin Hales
Deadline is today! However, if you've missed it (heaven forbid) I am told that submissions that arrive up until *Sunday* will still be forwarded to the editor ... so its not too late!
1/ Can AI be conscious? My Behavioral & Brain Sciences target article on ‘Conscious AI and Biological Naturalism’ is now open for commentary proposals. Deadline is June 12. Take-home: real artificial consciousness is very unlikely along current trajectories. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Call for Commentary Proposals - Conscious artificial intelligence and biological
Call for Commentary Proposals - Conscious artificial intelligence and biological naturalism
www.cambridge.org
June 12, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Deadline is today! However, if you've missed it (heaven forbid) I am told that submissions that arrive up until *Sunday* will still be forwarded to the editor ... so its not too late!
Reposted by Colin Hales
Ilya Sutskever asks “Why can’t digital computers do the same [as AI]?”
The reason is that the brain isn’t digital. Digital AI needs nuclear plants. The brain runs on 20W. Analog computing is vastly more efficient—and the brain constantly generates the raw material: waves.
youtu.be/zuZ2zaotrJs?...
The reason is that the brain isn’t digital. Digital AI needs nuclear plants. The brain runs on 20W. Analog computing is vastly more efficient—and the brain constantly generates the raw material: waves.
youtu.be/zuZ2zaotrJs?...
Ilya Sutskever, U of T honorary degree recipient, June 6, 2025
YouTube video by University of Toronto
youtu.be
June 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Ilya Sutskever asks “Why can’t digital computers do the same [as AI]?”
The reason is that the brain isn’t digital. Digital AI needs nuclear plants. The brain runs on 20W. Analog computing is vastly more efficient—and the brain constantly generates the raw material: waves.
youtu.be/zuZ2zaotrJs?...
The reason is that the brain isn’t digital. Digital AI needs nuclear plants. The brain runs on 20W. Analog computing is vastly more efficient—and the brain constantly generates the raw material: waves.
youtu.be/zuZ2zaotrJs?...
20 cited postulated ToC.
1 "winner" somewhere in that list.
35 years of "correlates-of" science is in its adversarial collaborative end game, a kind of heat-death that reveals the explanatory emptiness of correlates of subjective experience.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
1 "winner" somewhere in that list.
35 years of "correlates-of" science is in its adversarial collaborative end game, a kind of heat-death that reveals the explanatory emptiness of correlates of subjective experience.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Make science more collegial: why the time for ‘adversarial collaboration’ has come
Bringing together proponents of rival theories to test their ideas against each other can advance science — but only if all sides can accept that they might be wrong.
www.nature.com
June 1, 2025 at 1:25 AM
20 cited postulated ToC.
1 "winner" somewhere in that list.
35 years of "correlates-of" science is in its adversarial collaborative end game, a kind of heat-death that reveals the explanatory emptiness of correlates of subjective experience.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
1 "winner" somewhere in that list.
35 years of "correlates-of" science is in its adversarial collaborative end game, a kind of heat-death that reveals the explanatory emptiness of correlates of subjective experience.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Colin Hales
I was a guest on Tam Hunt's "Diamond Mind" podcast episode 10.
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
Diamond Mind #10: Can computers ever be conscious?
Diamond Mind · Episode
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
May 25, 2025 at 12:16 PM
I was a guest on Tam Hunt's "Diamond Mind" podcast episode 10.
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
Reposted by Colin Hales
A great thread by Matthew Larkum on our recent paper🧵
He clarifies how we model the experiment with the Turing machine and ends his thread with the hard choice the computational functionalist must face😢
He clarifies how we model the experiment with the Turing machine and ends his thread with the hard choice the computational functionalist must face😢
Does neural computation feel like something? In our new paper, we explore a paradox: if you replay all the neural activity of a brain—every spike, every synapse—does it recreate conscious experience?
🧠 doi.org/10.3389/fnin...
🧠 doi.org/10.3389/fnin...
Frontiers | Does neural computation feel like something?
Artificial neural networks are becoming more advanced and human-like in detail and behavior. The notion that machines mimicking human brain computations migh...
doi.org
May 26, 2025 at 12:27 PM
A great thread by Matthew Larkum on our recent paper🧵
He clarifies how we model the experiment with the Turing machine and ends his thread with the hard choice the computational functionalist must face😢
He clarifies how we model the experiment with the Turing machine and ends his thread with the hard choice the computational functionalist must face😢
I was a guest on Tam Hunt's "Diamond Mind" podcast episode 10.
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
Diamond Mind #10: Can computers ever be conscious?
Diamond Mind · Episode
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com
May 25, 2025 at 12:16 PM
I was a guest on Tam Hunt's "Diamond Mind" podcast episode 10.
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
It's on EM Field theories of consciousness. It was fun to do. Editing it down to 1hr must have been a tough job. I think it works. Enjoy!
url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZmQCVAGLr...
Is Bernie Baars listening?
New results! Neural subspaces are not specialized. They are like general workspaces.
Recycling of prefrontal subspaces dynamically multiplexes information
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#neuroscience
Recycling of prefrontal subspaces dynamically multiplexes information
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#neuroscience
Recycling of prefrontal subspaces dynamically multiplexes information
Cortical spiking activity in areas like prefrontal cortex (PFC) encodes information only along a small number of dimensions, a subspace of the full space of population activity patterns. PFC often use...
doi.org
May 5, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Is Bernie Baars listening?
Reposted by Colin Hales
New paper!
Cognitive independence and interactions between cerebral hemispheres
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroscience
Cognitive independence and interactions between cerebral hemispheres
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroscience
Redirecting
doi.org
April 22, 2025 at 11:32 AM
New paper!
Cognitive independence and interactions between cerebral hemispheres
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroscience
Cognitive independence and interactions between cerebral hemispheres
doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...
#neuroscience
There are 3 cargo cults operating in science:
1) The science of AI
2) The science of consciousness
3) Particle physics.
Notice that all 3 span the full breadth of the physical sciences. I'm here to say that in the end the solution to all three will be the brain.
Here's 3:
youtu.be/XqoyTSAF5g0?...
1) The science of AI
2) The science of consciousness
3) Particle physics.
Notice that all 3 span the full breadth of the physical sciences. I'm here to say that in the end the solution to all three will be the brain.
Here's 3:
youtu.be/XqoyTSAF5g0?...
How I Became Particle Physicists’ Enemy #1
YouTube video by Sabine Hossenfelder
youtu.be
April 13, 2025 at 11:43 PM
There are 3 cargo cults operating in science:
1) The science of AI
2) The science of consciousness
3) Particle physics.
Notice that all 3 span the full breadth of the physical sciences. I'm here to say that in the end the solution to all three will be the brain.
Here's 3:
youtu.be/XqoyTSAF5g0?...
1) The science of AI
2) The science of consciousness
3) Particle physics.
Notice that all 3 span the full breadth of the physical sciences. I'm here to say that in the end the solution to all three will be the brain.
Here's 3:
youtu.be/XqoyTSAF5g0?...
How natural general intelligence gets to grips with natural physics ... In a way that no generative "AI" will ever understand:
www.facebook.com/share/v/1GVZ...
www.facebook.com/share/v/1GVZ...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
March 21, 2025 at 1:14 AM
How natural general intelligence gets to grips with natural physics ... In a way that no generative "AI" will ever understand:
www.facebook.com/share/v/1GVZ...
www.facebook.com/share/v/1GVZ...
Autonomy getting some attention. Finally. By @tonyzador.bsky.social. But I would elevate it even further: if an agent cannot autonomously acquire new càpability its intelligence is zero.
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/neur...
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/neur...
NeuroAI and the hidden complexity of agency
As we attempt to build autonomous AI systems, we’re discovering that a capability we take for granted in animals may be more complex than we imagined.
www.thetransmitter.org
February 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Autonomy getting some attention. Finally. By @tonyzador.bsky.social. But I would elevate it even further: if an agent cannot autonomously acquire new càpability its intelligence is zero.
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/neur...
www.thetransmitter.org/neuroai/neur...
@johanneskleiner.bsky.social
Hi,
Please add me to the consciousness starter packs.
Happy 2025!
Cheers
Colin
Hi,
Please add me to the consciousness starter packs.
Happy 2025!
Cheers
Colin
January 15, 2025 at 7:40 PM
@johanneskleiner.bsky.social
Hi,
Please add me to the consciousness starter packs.
Happy 2025!
Cheers
Colin
Hi,
Please add me to the consciousness starter packs.
Happy 2025!
Cheers
Colin
Finally someone attempts an estimate of the conditions under which computational functionalism HYPOTHESIS is true.
When you have to convert solar systems into compute and still fail, don't we get the latitude to question assumptions?
We need the same analysis done from multiple directions.
When you have to convert solar systems into compute and still fail, don't we get the latitude to question assumptions?
We need the same analysis done from multiple directions.
🚨Our paper `Reclaiming AI as a theoretical tool for cognitive science' is now forthcoming in the journal Computational Brain & Behaviour. (Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...)
Below a thread summary 🧵1/n
#metatheory #AGI #AIhype #cogsci #theoreticalpsych #criticalAIliteracy
Below a thread summary 🧵1/n
#metatheory #AGI #AIhype #cogsci #theoreticalpsych #criticalAIliteracy
December 29, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Finally someone attempts an estimate of the conditions under which computational functionalism HYPOTHESIS is true.
When you have to convert solar systems into compute and still fail, don't we get the latitude to question assumptions?
We need the same analysis done from multiple directions.
When you have to convert solar systems into compute and still fail, don't we get the latitude to question assumptions?
We need the same analysis done from multiple directions.
Scientists assuming that computational functionalism hypothesis is operating as a law of nature...beware. Not proved!
This is an honest assessment of the amount of compute likely to be needed for CF to deliver what it promises. Even if it's 90% wrong it's a CF showstopper.
This is an honest assessment of the amount of compute likely to be needed for CF to deliver what it promises. Even if it's 90% wrong it's a CF showstopper.
Published version, here:
van Rooij, I., Guest, O., et al. Reclaiming AI as a Theoretical Tool for Cognitive Science. Comput Brain Behav 7, 616–636 (2024). doi.org/10.1007/s421...
van Rooij, I., Guest, O., et al. Reclaiming AI as a Theoretical Tool for Cognitive Science. Comput Brain Behav 7, 616–636 (2024). doi.org/10.1007/s421...
December 29, 2024 at 9:24 PM
Scientists assuming that computational functionalism hypothesis is operating as a law of nature...beware. Not proved!
This is an honest assessment of the amount of compute likely to be needed for CF to deliver what it promises. Even if it's 90% wrong it's a CF showstopper.
This is an honest assessment of the amount of compute likely to be needed for CF to deliver what it promises. Even if it's 90% wrong it's a CF showstopper.