ASEF Podcast
The American Slovenian Education Foundation (ASEF) is the leading foundation fostering talented individuals and higher education of deserving Slovenians worldwide through its exchange Fellowship programs and promotion of Slovenian culture and language. In the ASEF Podcast, we interview professors about their research, best practices in their field, and their vision for the development of the field in Slovenia as well as collaboration amongst Slovenians worldwide.
Visit us at https://www.asef.net/ or reach us at podcast@asef.net.
The podcast's introductory theme is the "C Minor Jazz Blues Backing Track" by Quist.
ASEF Podcast
Episode #40 (EN): Free Energy Principle with Karl Friston: Mathematical Modeling of Consciousness
In this episode, Karl Friston unpacks the Free Energy Principle (https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn2787), a unifying theory explaining how the brain minimizes surprise by constantly predicting and updating its model of the world.
We explore how this principle sheds light on perception, consciousness, and even psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia.
Karl also shares how his journey took him from psychiatry to neuroscience, driven by a passion for applying math and physics to deepen understanding of the brain.
The host of the science vertical on the ASEF Podcast: Tanja Janko
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:05 Understanding Free Energy in Neuroscience
08:10 Sensory Input, Surprise, and Prediction
13:23 Novelty and Active Inference
19:51 Markov Blanket Explained
25:44 Perception as Controlled Hallucination
28:25 Consciousness and Generalized Synchrony
33:12 Generative Model and Schizophrenia
36:39 Assembly Theory and the Free Energy Principle
44:15 Schizophrenia and Perception
48:10 Consciousness and AI Challenges
56:04 Karl Friston’s Personal Journey
59:14 Conscious AI and the Free Energy Principle
1:02:02 Future Directions in Research
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, learn more about ASEF on our website and consider donating to support the ASEF's mission and programs!
