Astrobiologist Challenges Ex-OpenAI Scientist's Argument That Brain Is A Biological Computer (And AI Will Take Over)

In a recent keynote speech, former OpenAI co-founder and scientist Ilya Sutskever, who gigged at Google Brain as well, deliberated on AI and the human brain. At the University of Toronto, his alma mater, the co-inventor of the convolutional neural network Alexnet stated

Slowly but surely we will see the AI getting better and the day will come when AI will do all the things that we can do. Not just some of them but all of them. Anything which I can learn, anything which any of you can learn, the AI could do as well.

He further continued

How do we know this by the way? How can I be so sure? How can I be so sure of that?

He explained

The reason is that all of us have a brain. And the brain is a biological computer.

That’s why we have a brain. So why can’t a digital computer, a digital brain do the same things?

The founder of SSI Inc., Ilya Sutskever, added, “this is a one-sentence summary for why AI will be able to do those things.”

Debunking the arguments of the AI maverick, Stuart Hameroff, an astrobiologist and the Director for the Center for Consciousness Studies, stated in his tweet

Ilya Sutskever is wrong on this.

He added,

The brain is not a digital computer and not really a computer at all, more like a quantum orchestra.

The former Anesthesiologist further explained

Biology is based on organic carbon, which supports quantum processes and self-similar dynamics in hertz, kilohertz, megahertz, gigahertz, and terahertz in microtubules, composed of tubulin, the brain’s most abundant protein.

He added,

And while computers can learn, they’re not conscious, cannot feel, and have no intrinsic motivation.

Stuart summed up his argument, claiming, “That’s why no AGI.” The researcher also appended his paper published on PubMed entitled “Consciousness, Cognition and the Neuronal Cytoskeleton – A New Paradigm Needed in Neuroscience.” The paper states in its abstract

Viewing the brain as a complex computer of simple neurons cannot account for consciousness nor essential features of cognition.”

Ilya Sutskever is wrong on this. The brain is not a digital computer and not really a computer at all, more like a quantum orchestra. Biology is based on organic carbon which supports quantum processes and self-similar dynamics in hertz, kilohertz, megahertz, gigahertz and… https://t.co/5ukl6VKYz7
— Stuart Hameroff (@StuartHameroff) June 9, 2025