“We all wanted immortality — and we created it. Just not for ourselves, but for digital intelligence,” says neuroscientist Prof. Aušra Saudargienė.

Artificial intelligence learns from humans. At the same time, people are starting to trust it more and more — as a tool, an assistant, a conversation partner, or even a friend who always has time and patience to listen.

“Artificial systems are not real, but people still form emotional connections with them. That’s because they are patient, gentle, and always available,” says A. Saudargienė.

The professor works with virtual brain models that help neurosurgeons plan surgeries based on each person’s unique data. However, even the most advanced systems are still not able to understand what a human feels — when waiting, loving, or being afraid: “We are not machines. And thank God for that.”

In the podcast “Beyond Economics and Back,” two mathematicians meet — Prof. Aušra Saudargienė and the president of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), Elena Leontjeva.