Dear colleagues, On September 25, the Developing Minds global online lecture series is proud to host Uri Hasson from Princeton University, USA, speaking on: "Developing cognitively feasible learning agents that can acquire language like children through real-life experiences“. Thursday, September 25, 2025: 9:00 am EST (Eastern Standard Time, US) 14:00 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) 15:00 CET (Central European Time) 22:00 JST (Japan Standard Time) The zoom link/credentials are: https://uni-frankfurt.zoom-x.de/j/65594262654?pwd=2BdrxR1IvUy2rjn3dDmfEVGXyh... Meeting-ID: 655 9426 2654 Access code: 141793 Abstract: Understanding how humans learn to think, speak, and interact in natural environments is one of the most significant scientific challenges. Traditional computational models perform well in artificial tasks but struggle to generalize to real-life ecological situations. In contrast, new deep learning models excel at processing real-world information and demonstrate cognitive abilities close to those of humans. However, these models are trained on impractically large datasets and use training protocols that are not cognitively feasible, which limits their ability to explain or predict human learning and cognitive development. This project aims to develop the first cognitively feasible learning agents—AI systems that learn language and cognition within constraints that mimic human development. Leveraging a unique dataset (the 1kD corpus)— continuous daily audio-visual recordings from 18 children’s first 1,000 days of life—we will train models directly on the ecologically valid, socially embedded experiences that shape children’s growth. Unlike large-scale industrial models, which depend on vast impersonal datasets, our approach emphasizes individual-centered, real-world input that captures the long-tail variability of human development. By replicating learning trajectories across multiple households, we will establish the first mechanistic framework for how natural input shapes children’s cognition. The project represents a bold shift from analyzing existing models to building new brain-inspired learning agents, directly addressing ecological validity and laying the foundation for a new generation of cognitive science. Short Bio: Uri Hasson grew up in Jerusalem. He studied philosophy and cognitive sciences at the Hebrew University as an undergrad. He completed his Ph.D. in Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and was a postdoctoral fellow at NYU before moving to Princeton. He is currently a Professor in the Psychology Department and the Neuroscience Institute at Princeton University. His research program aims to understand the neural basis of face-to-face, brain-to-brain, communication in real-world contexts, using big ECoG data and deep language models. The talk will be recorded and made available for later viewing. For more information on the talk series and recordings of previous events, please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home Best regards, Jochen Triesch -- Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch Johanna Quandt Chair for Theoretical Life Sciences Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Goethe University Frankfurt http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/~triesch/ Tel: +49 (0)69 798-47531 Fax: +49 (0)69 798-47611