
Why Bigger AI is a Trap
From Embedded AI - Intelligence at the Deep Edge by David Such
March 22, 2026 · 24 min · Season 5 · Episode 20
About this episode
This episode explores the concept that intelligence is a cost rather than a goal, highlighting the evolutionary trends in brain size and energy consumption.
Send us Fan Mail Your brain is shrinking. It has been for 3,000 years. And evolution doesn't care. In this episode, we explore one of biology's most uncomfortable truths: intelligence is not a goal. It is a cost. The human brain burns 20% of the body's energy at 2% of its mass, and evolution has been quietly trimming the excess ever since we started writing things down. Every domesticated species on Earth shows the same pattern. Stabilise the environment, externalise the cognition, and the ex...
People in this episode
Host: David Such
Topics covered
- intelligence
- evolution
- biology
- cognition
- human brain
- energy consumption
Keywords
- intelligence
- evolution
- human brain
- energy
- cognition
- biology
- domestication
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