On 11 March 2026, a lecture entitled "Neuroglia and Neuromorphs" will be given by Prof. Włodzisław Duch in the auditorium of the Faculty of Physics. The meeting is a special event of the 9th Brain Week in Białystok.
The contemporary debate on the brain and artificial intelligence is full of simplifications and myths. Although the biological brain is sometimes considered the most complex structure in the known universe, its complexity stems primarily from cell metabolism rather than the requirements of intelligence itself.
Meanwhile, relatively simple computer programmes have long surpassed human capabilities in areas such as chess, Go and other strategy games. Large language models have mastered language to the extent that they can pass the Turing test, and are now capable of handling thousands of languages.
Multimodal AI systems demonstrate creative abilities — they generate music, images and video material, creating unique compositions. The largest language models have processed a huge part of humanity's achievements. Their behaviour can be surprisingly "human": they make mistakes, confabulate, show prejudice, but also demonstrate intuition, imagination and the ability to take on different "personalities", often reflecting the way their interlocutors think.
Our cognitive limitations make it increasingly difficult to synthesise knowledge from many areas, from biology to medicine. In the near future, groundbreaking scientific achievements may require close cooperation between humans and agents based on large multimodal language models (LMMs).
But is there anything that will remain a unique feature of biological neuroglia — something that neuromorphs, neuromorphic, electronic or photonic systems will not be able to achieve? This is one of the key questions that will be addressed during the lecture.
