Part 1 builds the case against pure scaling and draws the lessons of evolution: why brute-force scale is misguided, how language became humanity’s cognitive scaffolding, the brain’s modular, orchestrated design, and how its very biases become opportunities for a better kind of AI.

This is the audio edition of Beyond Scale: Towards Biologically Inspired Modular Architectures for Adaptive AI, presented in two parts. The full written whitepaper, with references and intellectual foundations, is at jamesmaconochie.com.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesmaconochie.substack.com