Why Bigger AI is a Trap

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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