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Beyond the Brain: Michael Levin on Living Intelligence & Minds in the era of AI

A conversation co-published by AI House Davos and Michael Levin’s Academic Content (@drmichaellevin)

In this conversation, we explore how intelligence exists across all scales of life, from cells to collectives, and what this means for our understanding of AI, minds, and what it means to be human.

Professor Michael Levin challenges the assumption that intelligence begins with brains, revealing how biological systems improvise, adapt, and solve problems in ways that go far beyond what our computational architectures attempt. From cognitive glue to the ethics of diverse intelligence, this interview questions the categories we’ve inherited and asks what truly matters as we enter an era of radically different embodiments.

Speaker.
Michael Levin (Director at Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University)

Moderator.
Louisa Hillegaart (Founder’s Associate, AI House Davos)

© AI House Davos 2025

Living Systems, Alignment & AGI: Michael Levin, Stephen Grossberg & Verses AI Break Down the Future

In this powerful opening session of the Strong AI Summit, moderator Dr. Mahault Albarracin brings together legendary thinkers redefining the boundaries between biology, cognition, active inference, and AGI.

00:00 Introduction by Dr. Mahault Albarracin.
00:42 Why study living systems when designing AI?
02:10 Dr. Michael Levin on biological intelligence and collective behavior.
04:25 Dr. Dalton on active inference foundations.
06:10 Prof. Stephen Grossberg on alignment and stable learning.
09:05 Limits of biological analogies in AI design.
11:45 Collective problem-solving and emergent goals.
13:30 Closing reflections.

Featuring:

Dr. Michael Levin, pioneer in morphogenesis, bioelectric signaling, and the xenobot project.

Prof. Stephen Grossberg, the most cited computational neuroscientist and creator of ART theory.

Dr. Dalton Sakadolsky, leading theoretician in Bayesian mechanics & active inference.

We Were Wrong About Our Minds—And AI

Biologist Michael Levin—creator of living robots—reveals a radical, evidence-based view of evolution driven by a fundamental mind, where agency emerges in unexpected places and what this means for humanity’s co-evolution with AI and AGI. This video is a compilation of interviews I conducted with Levin over the course of year for my Forbes reporting on his research.

▶️ Read the article on Forbes.com \.

Michael Levin: Novel Embodiments of Mind: Natural, Bioengineered, and Hybrid Interfaces

This is an invited talk in BAMΞ’s Mathematical Phenomenology Sprint.
Cf. https://bamxi.org/research-activities/mathematical-phenomenology-sprint/

Organizing Institutions:
Bamberg Mathematical Consciousness Science Initiative (BAMΞ) https://bamxi.org.
& Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science (AMCS) https://amcs-community.org

Controlled ‘oxidative spark’ may serve as a surprising ally in brain repair

Oxidative stress is a direct consequence of an excess in the body of so-called free radicals—reactive, unstable molecules that contain oxygen. Free radicals are normal metabolic by-products and also help to relay signals in the body. In turn, oxidative stress (an overload of these molecules) can be caused by lifestyle, environmental, and biological factors such as smoking, high alcohol consumption, poor diet, stress, pollution, radiation, industrial chemicals, and chronic inflammation.

When this occurs, it creates an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the body’s antioxidant defenses, which are responsible for neutralizing them.

Current & Future Role of Anktiva (N-803): Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

In this episode of the Oncology Brothers podcast, we engaged in a thought-provoking discussion with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a pioneer in oncology and the innovator behind the approval of nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane). We delved into the exciting potential of Anktiva (N-803), an IL-15 receptor super agonist designed to expand and activate natural killer (NK) cells and CD8 T cells, with the hope of revolutionizing cancer treatment.

Dr. Soon-Shiong shared insights into the mechanism of action of Anktiva, its current approvals in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, and extended approval in non-small cell lung cancer in Saudi Arabia, and the promising clinical trial data that suggests a significant increase in overall survival for patients. The conversation also touched on the importance of restoring lymphocyte counts and the implications for treating various tumor types.

Join us as we explore the future of immunotherapy, the challenges of regulatory approval, and the potential for Anktiva to change the landscape of cancer treatment.
Key Topics:
• Mechanism of action of Anktiva.
• Current approvals and clinical trial data.
• The role of lymphocyte counts in cancer treatment.
• Future directions for immunotherapy.

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• ⁠ Website: https://oncbrothers.com/

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