[FieryTransition]

Would you kindly care to explain how the field should change paradigm? Do you mean that " black boxing" the brain with input/output and hoping something will emerge is a non-productive endeavour, and that the neurophysiology, like a bottom up approach from biology/neuroscience, is the way to go?

I'm a comp-sci student too, and considering what possibilities there are for studying BCI, machine intelligence and the brain. But I think that maybe, having approached it from a more biologically oriented angle would have been better. After having read "On intelligence" I'm just more aware how disconnected our modelling of intelligence and the brain/BCI is. On one hand, there's just "throw more computing power at it", and the other, there's cutting a fruit fly's brain into slices and building a special machine just to do so, while afterwards scanning the resulting pathways [0]. We can't even understand brains way less complex than our own, so I fear that a bottom up approach is way beyond my lifetime. I remember a Danish neuroscientist once said, that there's a higher chance to understand every star in the universe, before we understand the inner workings of the human brain.

Do you mind me asking, what did you do instead?

[0] https://ai.googleblog.com/2019/08/an-interactive-automated-3...

[AussieWog93]

>Do you mean that " black boxing" the brain with input/output and hoping something will emerge is a non-productive endeavour, and that the neurophysiology, like a bottom up approach from biology/neuroscience, is the way to go?

I think what we should be doing is something different to what we are now. The current "throw machine learning at things and expect it to magically work" paradigm has achieved nothing more than bullshit non-results for two decades straight, and unfortunately this is where a disproportionate amount of the grant money/researcher's eyeballs go.

BCI research, at least on the algorithms side, is basically a "bullshit job" where you do something you know will fail, it fails, and then you scream from the rooftops how successful you were until grant money gets thrown at you.

>Do you mind me asking, what did you do instead?

I got a real job as an SWE. It was at a really good company (Blackmagic Design in Port Melbourne) with a fantastic, highly politically incorrect culture. Quit that job just before the pandemic to run my own business and be a dad, but still get nostalgic about it to this day.

[tomcam]

Thanks for the honest answer, which appealed to me because I’ve felt that way as a spectator for the last couple of decades.

[FieryTransition]

Thanks for the answer! I've always been fascinated with intelligence and the brain, but most stuff in machine learning / AI just seems so disconnected from actually trying to understand intelligence or the brain on any level, and has become it's own thing more akin to pure optimization but with less understanding of the inner process mathematically, where the word AI and related are just thrown around without any meaning, in order to suck up interest and funds. Maybe it is scary for people to admit, the this whole thing built around "AI" as it is referred to in popular terms today, is not the only way to go, and does not have infinite potential. Maybe be more humble in what it can do, and simultaneously be open to other paths of research, even if it means we are starting with not knowing that much at all. But being moderate might not be the best way to ensure capital, unfortunately.

I never forget my stint in a research group somewhat related to AI, where the professor spoke in front of an audience of politicians to get funding, and just threw around bullshit terms and mixed in, what is in reality, words describing very technical subjects which require some context to actually understand. Every one of the politicians just sat there, nodding, like they understood. While we watched from telly in our office. I think part of my faith in our government died that day, together with a healthy dose of respect for public research. At least it taught me to be way more picky in what science represents in our media and society. It's interesting how on some level, popularity contests never really go away... I really yearn for some kind of structure, where income for research is not based on popularity and internal/external power struggles, but somehow more diverse and fairly shared. TBH it has a lot to do with general education and interest, while at the same time, somehow overturning the current structure where in reality, research groups face fairly hard and unforgiving adversarial conditions, instead of more cooperative ones. Oh well, resources are not infinite, but how we choose to use them can be debated.

Sounds like an awesome place to work! I'm sure if you left on good terms, you could always return. But running your own business is usually a passion project, so I hope it works out and it won't be necessary! Also being a dad, it's easier to prioritize your children, once you can manage your schedule more freely. I'm not a parent myself, but jumped the gap on 30 this year heh, and from what I know from my earlier colleagues who have children, and are mindful of how they spend their time, you become way more averse to bullshit with the little time you have, for your own stuff and how you provide for your family. I've always loved to do research and development, it doesn't really matter what it is, so I'm considering joining a normal SWE company too after UNI, and see where the future takes me, a bit akin to what you are doing.