Seminar title: “AI and the cognitive brain: Have we uncovered the ingredients for intelligence?”

Seminar Speaker:  Dr. Thomas Trappenberg, Ph.D., Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University 

Date: May 12, 2026

Time:  11:30am-12:30pm

Location:  3H-01, Tupper building [in-person]

Description: Given the recent mind-blowing abilities of AI agents, I want to review some of the theoretical underpinnings. This includes the Modern Hopfield Model (MHM) and Vector Symbolic Architectures  (VSA). I will try to illuminate the ideas behind these concepts in a non-mathematical way, although I cannot promise that no formulas are displayed for illustration purposes. While these mechanisms might be implemented with transformers, I will debate the question if these mechanisms are implemented in the brain on a cognitive level, and where it seems that there are gaps in such a cognitive architecture.