Youβre reading an excerpt of Making Things Think: How AI and Deep Learning Power the Products We Use, by Giuliano Giacaglia. Purchase the book to support the author and the ad-free Holloway reading experience. You get instant digital access, plus future updates.
The human brain is special, but sheer mass is not the reason why humans have more cognition than different animals. If that were the case, then elephants would be at the top of the pyramid because of their larger brains. But not all brains are the same.* Primates have a clear advantage over other mammals. Evolution resulted in an economical way in which neurons are added to their brains without the massive increase in average cell sizes seen in other animals.