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Dr. Paul Verschure, Psychologist

Dr. Paul Verschure heads the project "Ada – the intelligent space” at the Institute of Neuroinformatics, the joint institute of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

In his research, he examines various issues regarding the connection between thinking and acting (behaviour) and their material basis, the brain.
His work utilises synthetic – hence artificial – methods that primarily rely on computers and corresponding software. He is especially interested in understanding perception, learning and problem solving in animals and machines.

Most of the following statements are taken from the short film «Brainworkers,» created especially for the Expo.02 exhibition.



«We don’t exactly know what intelligence is. But it concerns how we solve problems and how we acquire knowledge about the world.»

«The project is meant to demonstrate that technology will one day come to resemble us.»

«Something new always triggers a bit of fear. Will there be a sort of super robot someday that replaces humans? Heavens no! Why? Because this is a fantasy from the world of science fiction. I don’t see such a thing happening.»

«The unknown does not threaten us. It provokes our curiosity and reminds us of what we do not yet know. Today we are still unable to fully explain how the brain functions. And – consequently – we are not able to understand ourselves either. It is a challenge to answer the age-old question, posed long ago by Plotinus: And we, who are we anyhow?»

«Will it be possible to build machines that can interact intelligently with the world? Yes, by all means.»

«For instance, it will be possible for a person to have a difference of opinion with his car. You want to go left, while the car wants to go right. And you have to think it over. Why do you have to think it over and discuss it? So that the car will learn.»
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