How do you intuitively know that you can walk on a footpath and swim in a lake?
How do you intuitively know that you can walk on a footpath and swim in a lake? Researchers from the University of Amsterdam have discovered unique brain activations that reflect how we can move our bodies through an environment. The study not only sheds new light on how the human brain works, but also shows where artificial intelligence is lagging behind. According to the researchers, AI could become more sustainable and human-friendly if it incorporated this knowledge about the human brain.
When we see a picture of an unfamiliar environment - a mountain path, a busy street, or a river - we immediately know how we could move around in it: walk, cycle, swim or not go any further. That sounds simple, but how does your brain actually determine these action opportunities?
PhD student Clemens Bartnik and a team of co-authors show how we make estimates of possible actions thanks to unique brain patterns. The team, led by computational neuroscientist Iris Groen, also compared this human ability with a large number of AI models, including ChatGPT. ‘AI models turned out to be less good at this and still have a lot to learn from the efficient human brain,’ Groen concludes.
Read more at Universiteit van Amsterdam
Photo Credit: photoelf via Pixabay
