Singer is carrying out research on how the natural brain works. This includes the question of whether computer systems work according to the same principles and what we can learn from through this comparison for developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Examples of this are deep neural networks (DNNs) and large language models (LLMs). DNNs are artificial multi-layered neural networks that fulfil complex tasks. Examples of these tasks include image recognition and solving combinatorial problems like in games such as chess or Go. LLMs like ChatGPT are special forms of these networks that have been trained to »understand« language and draw conclusions based on huge amounts of text.

Singer’s research suggests that artificial and natural systems rely on fundamentally different principles to perform their tasks. Artificial systems work with digital signals and process information serially in strict hierarchical architectures. Natural systems use analogue signals that are processed at the same time in highly networked architectures with a flat hierarchy. The biggest difference is that artificial systems are not dynamic, whereas natural systems exhibit highly dynamic behaviour. This includes rhythmic vibrations, or oscillations, which can overlap and synchronise or create complex interference patterns as migrating waves of activity. Using simulation studies based on neurobiological findings, Singer has concluded that these complex dynamics create the basis of an extremely efficient computing strategy that is in some respects similar to that used in quantum computers. 

These findings could, in the long term, enable new, energy-efficient AI systems that are more closely aligned with the way the brain works. Singer’s interdisciplinary approach combines neurobiology and computer science, inviting us to look at cognition and artificial intelligence from a new perspective.

The lecture is open to the public.

Oszillationen, Wellen und Interferenzen. Die Lingua Franca der Großhirnrinde. The essential role of dynamics in the difference between brains and computers.
Sonic Talk by Wolf Singer (Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience, Frankfurt)

Time: 
Tuesday, 27 May 2025, 7 pm

Location:
Main Building of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Oberlichtsaal
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8
99423 Weimar

»Sonic Talks« is an event series organised by the Professorships of »Experimental Radio« and »Akustische Ökologien und Sound Studies« at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. They are based on the topics of the semester. »Sonic Talks« will focus on rhythm, sound, and healing in the 2025 summer semester.

About Wolf Singer
Wolf Singer is a world-renowned German neuroscientist, whose work has significantly shaped our understanding of the brain, especially as it relates to information processing. After studying medicine in Munich and Paris, Singer began carrying out research in the field of neurophysiology. In 1982, he was appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main. In 2004, he founded the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS), which deals with the theoretical treatment of neurobiological questions, among other things. In 2008, Singer founded the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in cooperation with the Max Planck Society, which is dedicated to research into higher brain functions. He has been Professor Emeritus since 2011 and continues to lead a research group as a senior fellow at the ESI. One of his most influential research contributions is the theory of temporal binding, which states that synchronised neuronal oscillations enable different parts of the brain to process spatially and temporally separated content into coherent perceptions. The brain utilises not only the spatial but also the temporal dimension for its calculations. Singer's work forms a connection between computer science and neuroscience and questions the classical notion of linear information processing. The discussion will determine whether this results in references to certain concepts in art. 

Questions can be directed to Romy Weinhold, Press and Public Relations Officer for the Faculty of Art and Design by phone at +49 / 36 43 / 58 11 86 or by e-mail at romy.weinhold[at]uni-weimar.de.