A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence

by Jeff Hawkins

Bestselling author, neuroscientist, and computer pioneer, Jeff Hawkins, unveils a theory of intelligence that will revolutionize our understanding of the brain and the future of AI.

For all of neuroscience’s advances, we’ve made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence?

Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world-not just one model, but tens of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought.

A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the understanding of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word.

Animation: How the Brain Works: The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence

″Filled with fascinating insights into the architecture of the brain and tantalizing clues about the future of intelligent machines.” ― Bill Gates

Video Series

Watch the video below to see Jeff talk about the book and why he wrote it.

A Thousand Brains is written in three sections, one about the brain, one about AI and one about the future of humanity. Jeff discusses each section in these three videos below. 

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Select Media Coverage

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Conversations – A Video Series

Watch leading experts in various fields discuss the impacts and implications of the topics outlined in the book.

Translations Available

A Thousand Brains is available in multiple languages, check your local retailers for details.

About the Author

Jeff Hawkins

Jeff is a serial entrepreneur, scientist, engineer, and inventor. He is cofounder of Numenta, a research company focused on brain theory and AI. Previously, he founded the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, a scientific institute focused on understanding the neocortex. The Redwood Institute is located at U.C. Berkeley. He also founded two mobile computing companies, Palm and Handspring, and is the architect of many computing products such as the PalmPilot and Treo smartphone. A Thousand Brains is his second book. His previous book, On Intelligence, was published in 2004.

Jeff has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003.

Please contact press@numenta.com for any inquiries.