WIRED released PitchFly, an AI model trained on a fruit fly's brain connectome, saying it generates story ideas by simulating how a fly would respond to stimuli. It is the publication's first editorial AI project since its initial foray into AI-driven content creation.
PitchFly uses a detailed map of the male drosophila brain, known as a connectome, which captures how 166,000 neurons and 125 million synapses fire in response to stimuli. That compares with previous AI models that rely on human-generated data rather than biological intelligence.
The model is built on the connectome of a male fruit fly and targets content creation, with availability beginning immediately for WIRED editors. It was developed by researchers from Google and academic institutions, with WIRED using it to generate story ideas.
"The fly brings lighthearted, humorous relief" at a time when everyone is worried about the existential risks of AI, said Alex Wormuth, a software engineer at Coinbase. He found playing with the fruit fly connectome philosophically fascinating, too.
The announcement follows the release of the fruit fly connectome in early September. WIRED said the project shows how easy it is now to train and deploy your own model, with potential applications beyond content creation.
WIRED did not say how the model will continue to learn from new data, and raised the open question of whether the fly's brain has any consciousness. The publication said it remains a proof of concept for now.
Source: wired
