Harvard's Kempner Institute and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Science at the Hebrew University will conduct joint academic activities in the field that connects brain research and artificial intelligence.
The Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University and the Edmond and Lily Safra Neuroscience Center (ELSC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have announced a new collaboration in the field of NeuroAI, an emerging field of research that connects neuroscience, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and machine learning.
The collaboration is designed to strengthen ties between the research communities at both institutions. It will include knowledge exchange between faculty members and young researchers, workshops, academic meetings, and other joint activities. The goal of the move is to lay the foundation for future research initiatives that will examine how biological and artificial systems learn, represent information, predict events, and adapt their behavior to complex environments.
The field of NeuroAI seeks to understand intelligence across a broad continuum of systems, from the human and animal brains to computational models and artificial intelligence systems. On the one hand, researchers use advanced AI tools to decipher how the brain learns, computes, and adapts. On the other hand, they draw inspiration from biological systems to develop more efficient, stable, and reliable AI systems.
The Kempner Institute at Harvard is an interdisciplinary institute that studies intelligence in natural and artificial systems, bringing together researchers in fields such as machine learning, neuroscience, and cognitive science. According to the institute's website, its main mission is to advance the study of intelligence and develop solutions to complex problems for the benefit of humanity. (Kempner Institute)
The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences at the Hebrew University is one of Israel's leading centers for computational neuroscience. According to the center's website, ELSC works to connect cognitive, biological, and computational research, with the goal of advancing new discoveries in brain research. (elsc.huji.ac.il)
The new collaboration also builds on existing connections between researchers at both institutions. Among the figures bridging the communities are Prof. Chaim Sompolinsky, an associate faculty member at the Kempner Institute and professor emeritus at ELSC; Prof. Dafna Weinschel of the Hebrew University, who serves as a visiting scholar at the Kempner Institute; and Dr. Yonatan Kadmon of ELSC, who was previously a visiting scholar at Harvard.
The move reflects a broader trend in neuroscience and artificial intelligence: a shift from studying the brain and computer separately to exploring the principles of intelligence together. In this area, understanding the brain could help build better AI systems, while artificial intelligence tools could provide scientists with new ways to analyze brain activity and unravel the mechanisms of learning, memory and decision-making.
The announcement of the collaboration stated that both institutions see it as a step towards advancing the science of intelligence and translating fundamental insights from biology and computation into future technologies. For the Hebrew University, the connection with Harvard in the field of NeuroAI strengthens its position in the international arena of computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
