Build a brain 

Is human intelligence the only kind of intelligence there is? Physicist Zdenka Kuncic believes it’s not. To her, intelligence is something that can be constructed, if we just put our minds to it.

Zdenka suggests that if artificial intelligence is going to be successful, it’s going to need the sort of cognition we have. The capacity to think, learn and adapt. To have self-awareness and sensory input. To be self-reliant. Things that the human brain does effortlessly.  

So how do you have intelligence without a brain? You build a synthetic one. Join Zdenka as she provides a tantalising glimpse into the possibility of synthetic intelligence in the not-too-distant future.

BIO

For Zdenka Kuncic, physics underpins everything. Even if we’re not conscious of its presence, it’s there – in the food you eat, the car you drive, the house you live in – every part of human existence is subject to the laws of physics. She likens being a physicist to wearing 3D glasses – it allows her to understand everything she sees at its most fundamental level.

Zdenka is interested in harnessing the interdisciplinary capacity of physics research, and her research is focused on the intersection between physics and medicine and biology. She is an elected fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics and was awarded an Australia-Harvard fellowship in 2017. 

6:30 PM @The Taphouse, 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst | Entrance over 18

Also speaking at The Taphouse at 8:00pm is Jakelin Troy