Brain, Computer, and AI — Soon Hard to Distinguish?

Science Evening 2025

Düssel­dorf — On July 10, 2025, the 10th Science Evening of the Hector Fellow Academy took place in Düssel­dorf and via livestream — in cooper­a­tion with Heinrich Heine Univer­sity Düssel­dorf, Forschungszen­trum Jülich and the Friends and Sponsors of Heinrich Heine Univer­sity Düssel­dorf. This year's topic was dedicated to one of the most fasci­nat­ing fields of research of our time: the inter­play between the brain, comput­ers and artifi­cial intelligence.

Numer­ous inter­ested guests on site and in the livestream had the oppor­tu­nity to immerse themselves in the fasci­nat­ing world of the human brain and learn about the latest devel­op­ments in neuro­science, computer science and AI research. How much does our knowl­edge of the brain influ­ence the devel­op­ment of AI? Can artifi­cial intel­li­gence itself become a model for human think­ing? And what role do super­com­put­ers play in this?

The record­ing of the event is now avail­able on the Hector Fellow Academy YouTube channel in German and English.

Roberto Viola, Direc­tor General for Commu­ni­ca­tion Networks, Content and Technolo­gies (CNECT) at the European Commis­sion, opened the evening and spoke about the impor­tance of artifi­cial intel­li­gence for the future of Europe, partic­u­larly in the field of medical research.

Prof. Dr. Rainer Goebel (Maastricht Univer­sity), gave inter­sst­ing insights into the bidirec­tional relation­ship between neuro­science and AI – how artifi­cial neural networks are inspired by the brain's archi­tec­ture, and how, in turn, these networks serve as new models to better under­stand the brain.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Lippert (Forschungszen­trum Jülich) gave an impres­sive overview of how super­com­put­ers have become the backbone for train­ing today’s largest AI models – and the immense compu­ta­tional, data, and energy require­ments this entails.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Katrin Amunts (Heinrich Heine Univer­sity Düssel­dorf & Forschungszen­trum Jülich), scien­tific chair of the evening, presented the latest devel­op­ments in brain mapping. Her work connects AI and neuro­science to analyze the human brain down to the cellu­lar level and uncover new layers of understanding.

In the follow­ing panel discus­sion, the experts explored whether and when artifi­cial and human intel­li­gence might resem­ble each other – and what impli­ca­tions this has for society. The evening was moder­ated by Wolfram Eilen­berger, philoso­pher, author, and public intellectual.

The next Hector Fellow Academy Science Evening will take place on May 21, 2026 in Munich, at the Bavar­ian Academy of Sciences and Human­i­ties, and via livestream. Under the topic “What can we learn from children — the future of person­al­ized medicine”, top-class speak­ers will once again provide fasci­nat­ing insights into their research. The scien­tific host is Christoph Klein, Profes­sor of Pediatrics and Adoles­cent Medicine and Medical Direc­tor of the Children's Hospi­tal at the Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospi­tal of the Ludwig Maxim­il­ian Univer­sity of Munich.