Andrew Barron – Why the honey bee is smarter than ChatGPT

Abstract

How smart is the honey bee really? This lecture considers how we might assess and compare intelligence in radically different forms of natural and artificial intelligence.  I argue that in some crucial aspects the honey bee is significantly smarter than ChatGPT and the best that contemporary AI has to offer. I discuss what lessons AI and robotics developers might have to learn from consideration of the humble bee.

Speaker Bio

Andrew Barron is Director of The Macquarie University Minds and Intelligences Research Centre. Andrew completed his PhD in Zoology at The University of Cambridge in 1999. His lab at Macquarie University studies honey bee neurobiology, specialising on understanding the incredible intelligence of bees and how sophisticated social behaviour is possible with such a tiny brain. His research is currently supported by awards from The Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation, The Australian Research Council, Horticulture Innovation and The Templeton World Charity Foundation. He has held fellowships from the Australian Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, The Fulbright Commission and The Royal Society of London.

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