Event Description
Do we have free will, and did it evolve with our brains? Could AI develop free will? As neuroscience and technology progress, these questions grow more complex. Prof Kevin Mitchell, author of Innate, will explore them in the NI Humanists Darwin Day Lecture.
In Free Agents, neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell challenges the idea that free will is an illusion, arguing that we are purposeful agents, not mere machines. He traces billions of years of evolution to show how nervous systems enabled sentient beings to model, predict, and choose. Mitchell explains how human imagination, introspection, and reasoning maximize our capacity for individual agency. His insights have profound implications for decision-making, collective action, and the future of AI. Free Agents offers a compelling exploration of how life evolved the power to choose—and why it matters.
About
Kevin Mitchell is associate professor of genetics and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are (Princeton) and runs a popular blog, Wiring the Brain. His work has appeared in publications such as Scientific American, the Guardian, and Psychology Today.
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