Meaning Lab
Podcast
#89: Tom Griffiths on Formalizing the Mind
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#89: Tom Griffiths on Formalizing the Mind

Cognitive Revolution | Tom's work uses inspiration from artificial intelligence to support his theories about the mind. We get into his ground-floor look at this approach to cognitive science.

This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts.


Tom Griffiths is Professor Psychology and Computation Science at Princeton University, where he directs the Computational Cognitive Science Lab. Tom uses algorithms from AI to inform his work as a psychologist—testing the ways in which hims align with or deviate from the standards set by the AI models. He’s a central figure in this field, and in this episode we go deep on how it first occurred to Tom to use computers to study the mind—as well as where this work has taken him over the years. Tom recently released a podcast series through Audible, co-hosted with Brian Christian, called Algorithms at Work. I finished it recently and can confidently say it’s one of the best podcast series I’ll listen to all year!


Like this episode? Here’s another one to check out:

Against Habit
#80: Sam Gershman on the Structure of Cognitive Revolutions
Listen now (76 min) | This is Cognitive Revolution, my show about the personal side of the intellectual journey. Each week, I interview an eminent scientist, writer, or academic about the experiences that shaped their ideas. The show is available wherever you listen to podcasts…
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Discussion about this podcast

Meaning Lab
Podcast
Hi there, My name is Cody Kommers. I produced this podcast in graduate school, while doing my PhD in experimental psychology at Oxford. In it, I interviewed over 90+ scientists, authors, and academics about the personal side of their intellectual journey. I wanted to know about the decisions they made when they were in my shoes—just starting their careers—and how those choices impacted the trajectory of their career. I am very thankful to everyone who took the time to share their stories. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to talk to many of the researchers and writers I admire most. I hope these stories can continue to be a resource for other young academics, especially in the cognitive and behavioral sciences.
If you'd like to follow my new work, you can subscribe to Meaning Lab at codykommers.com.