#20 – Melanie Mitchell: The Science of Artificial Thinking

Listen to this episode from Scaling Theory on Spotify. My guest today is Melanie Mitchell, a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, author of "Complexity: A Guided Tour" and "Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans." Melanie studied under the legendary John Holland and has become one of the leading voices bridging complexity science with research in artificial intelligence.In our conversation, Melanie and I explore the fundamental nature of intelligence and why today's AI systems might not be as intelligent as they appear. We discuss the persistent misunderstandings around modern AI, the concept of "jagged intelligence," and why the Turing Test is misleading us. We also talk about embodiment, metacognition, and how complexity science principles like emergence could reshape our approach to building truly intelligent machines. Finally, we delve into what biology can teach us about creating more sustainable and genuinely intelligent artificial systems. I hope you enjoy our discussion.You can follow me on X (@⁠ProfSchrepel⁠) and BlueSky (@⁠ProfSchrepel⁠).