26 September 2023, location TBA
Advances in AI are providing new ways to study cognition. I will argue that this will have a profound impact on the study of the mind, comparable to the impact of cognitive neuroscience in prior decades. I will illustrate this by focussing on one domain, showcasing my own work using generative AI to test the predictive brain hypothesis. This approach relies on generative AI to approximate the predictions that the brain is hypothesised to make, and comparing these predictions to brain responses in natural conditions. This ‘generative AI framework’ allows for strong and precise tests of the predictive brain hypothesis, addressing the key limitations of prior work that used classical cognitive neuroscience methods. Together, the studies illustrate the power of AI to transform how we do cognitive (neuro)science, and reveal the computational nature and ubiquity of prediction in the brain – ranging from hierarchical prediction in language comprehension to reconstructive high-level prediction in natural vision in mice.