Professor, Santa Fe Institute Author of Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans
Melanie Mitchell is a complexity scientist and leading AI researcher whose work explores how intelligence emerges in both biological and artificial systems. At the Santa Fe Institute, she examines the limits and capabilities of AI, particularly in areas like abstraction, analogy-making, and generalisation — skills that machines still struggle to replicate. Mitchell is a vocal critic of AI hype and a strong advocate for realistic expectations about what current systems can and cannot do. Her writing is widely accessible, aiming to help professionals and the public make sense of AI’s rapid evolution.
“We still don’t understand intelligence well enough to replicate it — what we’re building is powerful, but brittle.”