Borges, Memory, and Artificial Intelligence: From Funes the Memorious to Jennifer Aniston’s Neuron
In his celebrated story Funes the Memorious, Borges describes a human being with an infinite memory, yet precisely because of this, he was unable to think, since thinking means abstracting and conceptualizing, Funes had the memory of a powerful computer, but he could not connect the dots, within this framework, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga’s discovery of concept neurons, popularly known as the Jennifer Aniston neuron, is key to truly understanding the data to which we are exposed, in this conversation with Quian Quiroga, we will underscore the importance of our tendency to remember concepts and forget details, if we remembered too many details, we would end up like Funes the Memorious.
Participantes
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
Neuroscientist, he is renowned for his research in cognitive neuroscience. A graduate in physics from the National University of Córdoba and with a doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires, his focus is on neurophysiology and cognition. He currently holds a professorship at the University of Leicester, UK, where his work has centered on the study of "concept neurons." He is recognized for discovering neurons in the human hippocampus responsible for recognizing specific concepts, such as faces or places. These "concept neurons" have shed light on how the human brain encodes and stores complex information. He has received prestigious awards such as a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Cognitive Neuroscience Association's Young Investigator Award in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Gabriela Frías
Gabriela Frías
Gabriela Frías
Mathematician and science communicator She studied English Literature and Philosophy of Science Her research focuses on the intersections between art, science, and literature She has written more than 60 science communication articles and has curated several festivals, including El Aleph Festival of Art and Science: The Frontiers of Physics, together with José Gordon, and Science-Fiction-Science She currently works as a science communicator at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
José Gordon
José Gordon
José Gordon
Prominent essayist, narrator, journalist, and science and literature communicator. His career includes roles as host of cultural programs such as 9:30, Luz Verde, and La oveja Eléctrica on Channel 22. He also served as editor-in-chief of the supplement La Cultura en México for Siempre! magazine and collaborated with media outlets such as La Jornada and Reforma. In recognition of his journalistic work, he was awarded the National Journalism Award in 1994. Throughout his career, Gordon has stood out for his ability to disseminate knowledge about science and literature, combining his passion for both fields in his journalistic and educational work. His contributions to the cultural and journalistic fields have been widely recognized nationally.
Guadalupe Alonso Coratella
Guadalupe Alonso Coratella
Guadalupe Alonso Coratella
Graduate in Information Sciences and Techniques, she is a writer, cultural journalist, and television producer. She has served as news director at Canal 22 and deputy director of information at TV UNAM. She has contributed to El Ángel, the cultural supplement of the newspaper Reforma, La Jornada Cultural, Casa del Tiempo magazine, and Revista de la Universidad de México. She currently publishes in the cultural supplement Laberinto of the newspaper Milenio. She has received the National Journalism Prize from the Club de Periodistas three times for her work on Raquel Tibol, una vida en el arte (documentary, 2005), Las respuestas de la ciencia (series, 2009), and Observatorio 2012 (series, 2011). Some of her publications include Massimo Bontempelli. An Intense Life (UAM, 2007), Instant Reveal (Joaquín Mortiz, 2008) in co-authorship with José Gordon, The Lion and the Archangel (UNAM-Seix Barral, 2009), Alternative Paths: Conversations on Art, Literature, Journalism and Humanities (UNAM, 2010), Border Notebook: Essays on the Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Work of Creators (UNAM, 2015), and Sign of the Lion: Salvatore Quasimodo, Love Letters (Dante, 2021) in co-authorship with Myriam Moscona.
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Juan Escamilla
Juan Escamilla
He studied Biology and Mathematics at the School of Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) During his studies, he took courses that shaped his profile toward computer science, statistics, and geometry, always considering biology as the foundation and motivation for his research, while focusing on applications that could be useful to society He became increasingly involved in the use and development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies to create tools for data synthesis and integration, thereby facilitating decision-making on issues relevant to society His research focuses on the development of intelligent computational systems for modeling biological patterns at geographic scales, using a range of methodologies based on Bayesian statistics, high-performance computing, semantic data modeling, graph theory, and other approaches to collect data and subsequently generate knowledge syntheses, contributing to the collective generation of knowledge.
Francisco Estrada
Francisco Estrada
Es Licenciado en Economía por la Universidad Iberoamericana, maestro en Administración de Riesgos por el Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México y doctor en Economía Ambiental por la Universidad Libre de Ámsterdam. Es Investigador Titular B en el Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático (ICAyCC) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) e investigador visitante en la Universidad Libre de Ámsterdam. Es Investigador Nacional nivel II. Es miembro del Consejo de Cambio Climático del Gobierno Federal (C3) y asesor probono del Banco de México en riesgos físicos del cambio climático. Fue jefe del Departamento de Ciencias Atmosféricas del CCA y actualmente es Coordinador del Programa de Investigación en Cambio Climático de la UNAM.
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Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán
Martha Riva Palacio
Escritora y artista sonora mexicana. Estudió la licenciatura en psicología y la maestría de artes visuales. Forma parte del colectivo de arte y ciencia Cúmulo de Tesla y es miembro del Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte. Ha obtenido reconocimientos como el Premio Barco de Vapor de Literatura Infantil, el Premio Gran Angular de Literatura Juvenil y el Premio Hispanoamericano de poesía para niñas y niños. Entre su obra publicada se encuentran Sueño y Sello, El mono infinito, Cielo adentro arriba, Orfeo, Lunática, Pequeño elefante transneptuniano, Frecuencia Júpiter y Las sirenas sueñan con trilobites. Ha presentado sus ensayos sonoros en espacios como Festival Tsonami, Radiophrenia, Sur Aural, soundpedro y el Museo de Arte de la Universidad de Arizona.
Elisa Aguilar Funes
Elisa Aguilar Funes
Maestra en Comunicación y Política por la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco. Estudió Periodismo en la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales-UNAM. Se ha desempeñado en el área editorial y ha publicado reseña, ensayo, crónica y cuento en Punto de partida y Punto en Línea. Uno de sus cuentos forma parte de la antología de próxima aparición Sinvergüenzas de la editorial Tinta y Sal. Ocasionalmente escribe en su blog La Azotea. Promueve actividades en torno a la convergencia de la literatura y el montañismo.