Jeff Hawkins Quotes

“It is the ability to make predictions about the future that is the crux of intelligence.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“AI scientists tried to program computers to act like humans without first answering what intelligence is and what it means to understand. They left out the most important part of building intelligent machines, the intelligence! "Real intelligence" makes the point that before we attempt to build intelligent machines, we have to first understand how the brain thinks, and there is nothing artificial about that. Only then can we ask how we can build intelligent machines”

— Jeff Hawkins

Deep Blue didn't win by being smarter than a human; it won by being millions of times faster than a human. Deep Blue had no intuition. An expert human player looks at a board position and immediately sees what areas of play are most likely to be fruitful or dangerous, whereas a computer has no innate sense of what is important and must explore many more options. Deep Blue also had no sense of the history of the game, and didn't know anything about its opponent. It played chess yet didn't understand chess, in the same way a calculator performs arithmetic bud doesn't understand mathematics.

— Jeff Hawkins

“When you ask yourself, What does an intelligent system do?, it is intuitively obvious to think in terms of behavior. We demonstrate human intelligence through our speech, writing, and actions, right? Yes, but only to a point. Intelligence is something that is happening in your head. Behavior is an optional ingredient. This is not intuitively obvious, but it's not hard to understand either.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“To take an example closer to home, consider the fact that every few years your body replaces most of the atoms that comprise you. In spite of this, you remain yourself in all the ways that matter to you. One atom is as good as any other if it's playing the same functional role in your molecular makeup. The same story should hold for the brain: if a mad scientist were to replace each of your neurons with a functionally equivalent micromachine replica, you should come out of the procedure feeling no less your own true self than you had at the outset. By this principle, an artificial system that used the same functional architecture as an intelligent, living brain should be likewise intelligent-and not just contrivedly so, but actually, truly intelligent.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“But intelligence is not just a matter of acting or behaving intelligently. Behavior is a manifestation of intelligence, but not the central characteristic or primary definition of being intelligent. A moment's reflection proves this: You can be intelligent just lying in the dark, thinking and understanding. Ignoring what goes on in your head and focusing instead on behavior has been a large impediment to understanding intelligence and building intelligent machines”

— Jeff Hawkins

“The neocortex is not like a computer, parallel or otherwise. Instead of computing answers to problems the neocortex uses stored memories to solve problems and produce behavior.”

— Jeff Hawkins

The brain is an organ that builds models and makes creative predictions, but its models and predictions can as easily be specious as valid. Our brains are always looking at patterns and making analogies. If correct correlations cannot be found, the brain is more than happy to accept false ones. Pseudoscience, bigotry, faith, and intolerance are often rooted in false analogy.

— Jeff Hawkins

“A real brain and a three-row neural network are built with neurons, but have almost nothing else in common. During the summer of 1987,”

— Jeff Hawkins

“The cortex uses the same computational tool to accomplish everything it does.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“There is a common misconception that the human brain is the pinnacle of billions of years of evolution. This may be true if we think of the entire nervous system. However, the human neocortex itself is a relatively new structure and hasn't been around long enough to undergo much long-term evolutionary refinement.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“I believe consciousness is simply what it feels like to have a neocortex.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Prediction is not just one of the things your brain does. It is the primary function of the neo-cortex, and the foundation of intelligence.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“I do two things. I design mobile computers and I study brains.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“In grade school I was taught that the United States is a melting pot. People from all over the world come here for freedom and to pursue a better life. They arrive with next to nothing, work incredibly hard, learn a new language and new customs, and in a generation they become an integral part of our amazing nation.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“If you look at the history of big obstacles in understanding our world, there's usually an intuitive assumption underlying them that's wrong.”

— Jeff Hawkins

The key to artificial intelligence has always been the representation.

— Jeff Hawkins

“'Dream Act' kids are like all other American kids, with the exception that they have to work harder to excel in school, they live in fear of deportation, and they worry about their future.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Although it requires some adjustment by those already here, immigration has made the U.S.A. the most prosperous nation on Earth.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Prediction by analogy -creativity - is so pervasive we normally don't notice it.”

— Jeff Hawkins

A lot of America's success is because we're an open society and haven't brought dogma or religious influence into the American political process.

— Jeff Hawkins

“You and I are streaming data engines.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“And, you know, the fact is, if you believe in evolution, we all have a common ancestor, and we all have a common ancestry with the plant in the lobby. This is what evolution tells us. And, it's true. It's kind of unbelievable.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Whatever the difference between brilliant and average brains, we are all creative. And through practice and study we can enhance our skills and talents.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Our bodies are hanging along for the ride, but my brain is talking to your brain. And if we want to understand who we are and how we feel and perceive, we really understand what brains are.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“You can't imagine how much detail we know about brains. There were 28,000 people who went to the neuroscience conference this year, and every one of them is doing research in brains. A lot of data. But there's no theory. There's a little, wimpy box on top there.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Annexation is probably the most valuable tool a city has to ensure orderly growth and development.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“At times in the past, the U.S. did not restrict the number of immigrants.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“We are our brains. My brain is talking to your brain; our bodies are hanging along for the ride.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Coming in second place just means you were the first person to lose ...”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Your perception of the world is ... really a fabrication of your model of the world. You don't really see light or sound. You perceive it because your model says this is how the world is, and those patterns invoke the model. It's hard to believe, but it really is true.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“You know what, we don't know diddley squat about brains and no one has a clue how these things work, so don't believe what anyone tells you.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Complexity is not a cause of confusion. It is a result of it.”

— Jeff Hawkins

“Adding hardware to any computer is hard. The reality is, you're sticking in disks, trying to run installers. We do a very sophisticated installation and de-install but it's invisible to the user and happens almost instantaneously.”

— Jeff Hawkins