Michael Levin (Tufts University), “Communication with intelligence in unconventional embodiments: bioelectricity as a case study”

Embodiment is critical for intelligence; however, the traditional concept of embodiment as movement in 3-dimensional space covers only a small slice of the way biology exploits embodiment. In this talk, I will present a framework for understanding intelligence more broadly, and show how the multiscale competency of bodies navigates many different kinds of spaces. I will use our findings in developmental bioelectricity as a case study for how an unconventional intelligence can be recognized and communicated with, for exciting applications in regenerative medicine and cancer. I will also show novel multicellular life forms, which highlight the remarkable plasticity of the agential material of life by self-constructing new embodied intelligences from un-modified cells. The emerging field of diverse intelligence merges biophysics, computer science, and cognitive science in a way that helps us relate to current and forthcoming beings, with applications in science, engineering, and ethics.

Bio
Michael Levin is the Vannevar Bush Chair and Distinguished Professor of Biology at Tufts University, where he directs both the Allen Discovery Center and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. Renowned for his pioneering work at the intersection of developmental biology, synthetic biology, and cognitive science, Prof. Levin investigates how cells and tissues process information to control growth, regeneration, and form. His research explores the collective intelligence of cells, bioelectric signaling, and the emergence of cognition in both natural and synthetic organisms, with applications ranging from regenerative medicine to synthetic bioengineering. Prof. Levin is widely recognized for co-discovering xenobots—programmable living machines made from frog cells—and has published over 350 scientific papers. His work has been featured in major scientific and popular media. For more information, visit his lab website.

This event will take place on site with the speaker joining on Zoom: https://tu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/69207754612?pwd=IKxoTdY3dQWccHpce2nA0IsNkNxPHu.1

This is part of Aravind Battaje‘s course “Mind, Body, Environment: An Interactive Seminar on Embodied Intelligence,” a seminar introducing to key theories and research highlighting this shift in perspective through invited lectures from experts in the field and interactive sessions.