I Didn’t Know That (#2)
What I recently learned about Neurology, AI’s Caribbean connection and how Machines can achieve cognition | Jan 10 2025
Our brain has a waste removal system
Scientists have recently confirmed the existence of a waste-clearance system in the human brain, known as the glymphatic system, which uses cerebrospinal fluid to flush out toxic proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases. It works while we sleep. Another reason why getting a good night’s sleep is so important.
Read more here.
The unlikely winner of the AI race - the Caribbean country of Anguilla
Every new startup in 2025 needs to be an AI company. Even if you are in the business of dog walking. That means you need a website with the .ai domain. Guess who owns that .ai domain - the government of the country of Anguilla. Revenue from registration fees surged in 2023 marked a significant milestone for Anguilla's economy. Registrations skyrocketed from 144,000 in 2022 to 354,000 in 2023, generating approximately US$32 million in revenue, which is roughly just over 20 percent of the government's total revenue.
What is great is that this windfall is being reinvested by the government into strategic priorities like infrastructure, healthcare, emergency preparedness(Given the island's vulnerability to natural disasters- exacerbated by rising global temps, which can be partially attributed to rising energy usage thanks to power hungry Large Language Models(LLMs) powering the AI revolution which is bringing in the domain registration revenue. Love it when life comes full circle circle😇 )
Read more here.
PS: In other news, the .io domain, linked to the British Indian Ocean Territory, is at the center of a contentious ownership battle involving the UK, Mauritius, and the Chagossian people.
Living Intelligence
What Amy Webb calls Living Intelligence in this HBR article, I think about it as a step towards machines becoming increasingly autopoietic. A choreography of interconnected systems capable of producing and maintaining itself by creating its own parts. I will concede that’s a bit extreme with low probability but a possibility nevertheless.
Hear me out. AGI powered by LLMs and LAMs, fed by real world data sourced from ubiquitous sensors that in turn are able to interact with biological life? That’s gets me more excited than AGI alone.
Read the HBR article here.
Others that caught my eye…
That’s all folks! See you next time.