Michael Levin argues that intelligence is not just something brains have. Cells, tissues, even sorting algorithms solve problems in their own spaces, and selves of every size are built out of smaller ones. These four demos let you poke at those ideas directly. The order runs from the smallest system to the biggest, ending with AI teams.
Bubble sort, run by the elements themselves. Mix algotypes and damage cells to see behavior nobody coded.
Can a 10-line algorithm surprise its author?Cut a flatworm, rewrite its bioelectric memory, and grow two-headed worms that stay two-headed.
Where does a body keep the plan for itself?Compare the size of the goals a bacterium, an embryo, a human and an AI team can pursue. Grow a self, then break it.
How big is the thing you can care about?Two identical tissues rebuild a pattern. The one whose cells feel each other's stress finishes; the other jams.
What turns a group into a team?