A thought-provoking essay by Yale University computer scientist Nisheeth Vishnoi on whether AIs of today can truly discover something new. "But what truly counts as a scientific discovery? ... Today’s AI excels at recognizing structure, but not at reframing it. It doesn't invent

I’ve just joined Bluesky. I’ll be sharing essays and reflections on intelligence (natural and artificial), fairness, and computational thinking. If you are there, come say hi: @nisheethvishnoi.bsky.social

Everyone's building "intelligence" now But what is intelligence, really? Before the brain. Before thought To physics, evolution, and slime molds A journey through layers of emergence: nisheethvishnoi.substack.com/p/what-is-inte… #AI #Neuroscience #Philosophy #ComplexSystems #CognitiveScience

Will AI replace or enhance workers? Our ICML 2025 paper builds a formal model of jobs & workers, decomposing skills into decision vs. action It explains phase transitions, hybrid gains, and productivity compression Paper: openreview.net/pdf?id=zuQROb7… Essay: nisheethvishnoi.substack.com/p/the-anatomy-…

Diffusion models excel in Euclidean space—but real-world data often lives on manifolds. In our ICML 2025 paper, we design efficient diffusion models for spheres, tori, SO(n), U(n)—with near-Euclidean runtimes and provable guarantees. Paper: openreview.net/pdf?id=s015m2j… #ICML2025

What is intelligence made of? Is there a single blueprint—or many minds, diverging? Why do we tell ourselves stories—and what do they hold together? Part II is out: a deep dive into the architecture of intelligence and implications for AI Read here: nisheethvishnoi.substack.com

A new essay: When intelligence turns inward, it creates the structure in which suffering can arise. This piece traces that arc across evolution, introspection, and AI. It offers a computational lens on what I call the algorithm of suffering: open.substack.com/pub/nisheethvi…

What is intelligence? Not IQ. Not AI. But what emerges in nature, evolves in life, reflects in mind, and suffers in self. I wrote a 4-part series tracing this arc—across physics, biology, computation, and philosophy. 🧵 Start here: nisheethvishnoi.substack.com/p/what-is-inte… RT if it resonates

What slips when we mistake validation for care? A generation is outsourcing reflection before it is formed-mistaking fluency for understanding Read: When the Agency Slips: Why the AI debate must return to intelligence itself nisheethvishnoi.substack.com #AI #Education #parenting

A no-math explainer of diffusion models—the engine behind today’s generative AI Read here: nisheethvishnoi.substack.com/p/how-ai-gener… #AI #GenerativeAI

How Machines Learn to Write An accessible introduction to the science behind today’s LLMs—Shannon to transformers—and a contrast with human writing nisheethvishnoi.substack.com/p/how-machines… #AI #LLMs #Language #Creativity