What do large language models, cellular automata, and the human brain have in common? In this polymath salon, I talk with Dugan Hammock from the Wolfram Institute to discuss the deep links between these seemingly disparate fields.

Highlights include:

Computational Irreducibility: Why we can’t take shortcuts in complex systems—whether it’s a simple cellular automaton or a sophisticated LLM generating text.

The Power of Autoregression: How the simple, step-by-step process of predicting the next element can give rise to incredible complexity and human-like language.

The Nature of Thinking: Whether our own thought processes are fundamentally autoregressive and sequential, or if there’s a different, parallel mode of cognition at play.

Memory and Consciousness: The critical role of a system’s “memory” or history in shaping its future, and how this relates to our own awareness and sense of self.

The wargaming, which enhances human judgment, has long been a vital method for understanding human decision-making in complex, uncertain environments by harnessing the power of experiential learning.

While traditional wargames offer deep insights into how decisions play out under pressure, their dependence on expert facilitators and labor-intensive design limits their scalability and speed.

APL revealed that Generative Wargaming (GenWar) is a next-generation capability that integrates generative artificial intelligence, modeling and simulation (M&S), and human expertise. GenWar allows the institute to build and run wargames in days instead of months, analyze dozens of alternative futures at scale, and focus human attention on the scenarios that most demand thoughtful deliberation.