Morgan spoke to us as a representative of a larger cluster of scientists and scholars at UAlbany thinking about how the next generation of computers can take inspiration from the human brain. 

His work with that team of biologists, psychologists, mathematicians and nanoscale engineers underscores a truth many scientists have long understood: the problems we care most about, such as how to live long and age well, will not be solved by researchers in one discipline alone. 

Neuromorphic computing is a prime example.

“These fields are really starting to blur together in ways that certainly, when I started my career 25 years ago, wasn’t the case,” Sammons said. “At the fundamental level many scientific fields are remarkably similar. And there’s certainly a group of people who say, ‘Well, every field is just math when it comes back to it.’ 

But when we think about the people designing computer chips, or we think about people who are doing sustainable engineering, or mechanical or electrical engineering, or nanotechnology, many of them know biology. Many of them have done biology in the past. So often they’re drawn toward problems that are biology or life sciences- related.”

Part of that, he said, is innate human interest in the problems that affect us personally. 

“There’s a huge push on campus for healthy aging — the idea that getting older is something that all humans must confront. So you need to bring all these disciplines together. Whether or not there are similarities between what I do and what a computer engineer might do, or a computer scientist might do, we all come together on the fundamental societal problems. That’s why things like UAlbany’s AI Plus Initiative are so successful. Because everybody touches it, and it will impact everything we do. 

It’s not just the scientists doing drug discovery or trying to understand DNA sequences. It’s also the English professors analyzing hundreds of millions of works over the span of time and understanding grammar and structure; it's our philosophers sitting down and thinking about, ‘How does this impact our society?' Whether it’s just AI generally or the more specific part that we’re talking about — creating new computer chips, which is pretty niche — AI is going to touch a lot of people’s work.” 

Learn more about Morgan's day job as part of UAlbany's RNA Institute studying, as he puts it, "what it is about our DNA that makes us who we are."

Recently, that work included a collaboration with fellow RNA scientists to study how our cells respond to and fight off diseases like Zika virus — and how that might help develop better treatments in the future.  

Visit the Sammons Lab

Morgan also mentioned UAlbany’s AI Plus Initiative and Center for Healthy Aging

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