FMT ‘Proof of Existence”
One short tangential thought from the Demis Hassabis and Dwarkesh Patel podcast for the microbiome-minded.
Demis states that the brain is an "existence proof" of the feasibility of hashtag#artificialgeneralintelligence, so at least we know that with the right medium, the right wiring, the right physics and chemistry, the right training, etc., it is achievable.
Perhaps.
But it reminds me of the "existence proof" for all the researchers and clinicians who seek to shift the (gut) hashtag#microbiome from a dysbiotic state to a healthy state: our existence proof is fecal matter transplant (FMT). A couple of milestones were reached this year by Ferring Microbiome U.S. and Seres Therapeutics. So in a way the field has jumped straight to the equivalent of AGI but is making slow progress on how to modulate the microbiome with defined consortia of probiotics, a more subtle version of controlling the ecosystem than complete ecosystem replacement.
Working on it!