Alison Gopnik

@AlisonGopnik

Cognitive scientist, psychologist, philosopher, author of Scientist in the Crib, Philosophical Baby, The Gardener & The Carpenter, grandmother of six

Berkeley alisongopnik.com Joined September 2011

39 Following 19K Followers 1.9K Posts

Latest posts 5

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Alison Gopnik @AlisonGopnik Sep 13, 2024

My Rumelhart Prize presentation, IMHO I think one of the best talks I've ever given, very much inspired by the audience. "3 ages and 3 intelligences: explore, exploit, empower" AI, life history, the significance of children, elders and caregiving.
underline.io/events/465/ses…

Alison Gopnik @AlisonGopnik 3d

New Paper in PNAS, with A. Lidayan, Y.E. Du and E. Kosoy, We put children, adults and AI agents in the same open-ended Minecrafty environment and just let them play. Intrinisic rewards like entropy and empowerment shape their spontaneous exploration.

pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

www.pnas.org Intrinsically motivated humans and agents in open-world exploration | PNAS What drives exploration? Understanding the intrinsic motivation to explore is a long-standing challenge in both cognitive science and AI. In this s...

Alison Gopnik @AlisonGopnik Oct 6

I am number 58 , where do genuinely new concepts come from? (Central question for AI) on this fascinating list
nytimes.com/2026/10/05/sci…

www.nytimes.com What Are the Biggest Questions in Science Today? 100 Scientists Weigh In. (Gift Article) We asked 100 scientists about unsolved problems in their fields. They sent back provocations — on the origins of life, the possibilities for human progress and much more.

Alison Gopnik @AlisonGopnik Oct 1

This is an excellent article by Leif Wetherby - AI is a cultural technology not a collection of human-like agents (citing our work on this). And the anthropomorphism is a distraction from the very real risks and dangers and the way to deal with them.
nytimes.com/2026/10/01/opi…

www.nytimes.com Opinion | These Things Are Computers. Stop Talking About Them as if They’re Human. (Gift Article) If we want to figure out the proper way to control A.I. models, we need to recognize what they really are.

Alison Gopnik @AlisonGopnik Sep 26

Very pleased to be part of this.

John Templeton Foundation Verified account @templeton_fdn Sep 25

We're marking the launch of our 3-year, $60+ million exploration into the nature and future of intelligence in an exciting way: a special event featuring some of the world’s leading minds and storytellers who are redefining our understanding of intelligence, from animal to artificial and beyond.

Learn more: bit.ly/4yfSyVt

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