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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
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Society & Social Sciences

THE EMERGENT MIND

Jay McClelland Gaurav Suri

An eye-opening journey into the inner workings of human and artificial minds

When we are trying to solve a problem, what happens? We find ourselves weighing arguments, or relying on intuition, then reaching a conscious decision about what to do. What is going on behind the scenes?
In The Emergent Mind, Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland show that our experience is the tip of an iceberg of brain activity that can be captured in an artificial neural network. Such networksinitially developed as models of ourselveshave become the engines of artificial neural intelligence. Suri and McClelland aren't reducing mankind to mere machines. Rather, they are showing how a data-driven neural network can create thoughts, emotions, and ideasa mindwhether in humans or computers.
The Emergent Mind provides a fascinating account of how we reach decisions, why we change our minds, and how we are affected by context and experience. Ultimately, the book gives a new answer to one of our oldest questions: Not just how do minds work, but what does it mean to be a mind at all?

Gaurav Suri completed his B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Stanford University. After a successful career in management consulting, he returned to Stanford, receiving a Ph. D. in Affective Science in 2015. He is the author of 40+ publications that have been cited several thousand
times. He is also a co-author of A Certain Ambiguity, A Mathematical Novel (Princeton University Press, 2007), which won the American Publisher's Award and was translated into six languages. It continues to be used as a required text in various U.S. and international universities. James L. (Jay) McClelland is a Professor of Psychology and (by courtesy) of Computer Science and Linguistics at Stanford University. He is the Director of the Stanford Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology and holds a part-time consulting research scientist position at DeepMind. His publications have been cited over one hundred thousand times. He was a co-founder with David E. Rumelhart of the Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) research group, the team that produced the two-volume book Parallel Distributed Processing (MIT Press, 1986).

James L. (Jay) McClelland is a Professor of Psychology and (by courtesy) of Computer Science and Linguistics at Stanford University. He is the Director of the Stanford Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology and holds a part-time consulting research scientist position at DeepMind. His publications have been cited over one hundred thousand times. He was a co-founder with David E. Rumelhart of the Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) research group, the team that produced the two-volume book Parallel Distributed Processing (MIT Press, 1986).

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Book Published 2025-10-21 by Basic Books

Comments

The chatbots we have today use artificial neural networks that were originally developed as models of how the mind works. This book does an excellent job of explaining the ideas that led to these neural networks without requiring any prior knowledge of either mathematics or psychology. Important concepts like distributed representations are explained gently and skillfully. After reading this book you will have much better understanding of both chatbots and the mind.

A fresh and philosophical look at thinking itself, and an invitation to rethink what the mind is. Read more...

Neural networks define both our brains and, no accident, modern AI systems. Each is built out of simple processing units. But linked together these building blocks create systems of immense complexity that underpin not just our intelligence but our wants, goals and even consciousness. This book tells the vital, fascinating story of how. By providing a clear account of how mind-like abilities emerge - in both humans and machines - Suri and McClelland offer an indispensable guide to both ourselves and the coming age of AI.

Have you ever wondered how your mind works? How we make decisions? Are we 'rational'? To find out, read this book!

Jay McClelland is one of the most influential living cognitive psychologists, having pioneered the revival of neural network modeling of cognition which led to the 'Great AI Awakening' of the past decade. Together with Gaurav Suri, he has now written a lucid, invaluable introduction to neural networks and their implications for understanding the human mind.

Start with a type of simple building block, throw a zillion copies of them together and - more is different! - the blocks self-organize into a complex system with properties indescribable at the reductive level. Nowhere is this phenomenon more interesting than when "mind" emerges from billions of neurons, and no one is better positioned to explain how neural networks produce minds than these pioneering authors. This superb book is deeply stimulating and disarmingly accessible.

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This book takes you on a fascinating journey to discover how a three-pound blob of meat between your ears - your brain dynamically wires itself to the world to create the whirlwind of electrical, chemical and magnetic signals called *your mind*. Can AI have a mind? Read this book and see what you think.