Fly connectome demos go viral, neuroscientists push back
After HHMI Janelia released the male fruit fly central nervous system connectome (MaleCNS, with segmentation support from Google), X was flooded with demos showing flies playing Beat Saber / Doom / Minecraft or controlling robots, amplified by reposts from the official Google AI account. Several neuroscientists then broke these down, pointing out that most demos are not genuine closed-loop neural simulations. Current takeaway: the connectome itself is a major achievement, but the viral demos greatly exaggerate its actual capabilities.
Confirmed
- HHMI Janelia released MaleCNS, the male fruit fly central nervous system connectome, with segmentation support from Google.
- Numerous viral demos appeared, including flies running Doom, playing Beat Saber / SM64 / Minecraft, and controlling robots; the Google AI account joined in reposting them.
Unconfirmed
- @patrickmineault's breakdown argues that far less is actually happening in these simulation videos than it appears—most are not true closed loops.
- @faisalsayed05 questioned this: researchers have only published a wiring map of the neurons and have not figured out how neurons fire or respond to stimuli. The claimed 'simulated fly behavior' may well just be Claude fabricating outputs, creating the illusion that a brain model is in control.
Why it matters
- While debunking the demos, @patrickmineault affirmed that the new fly connectome itself is a remarkable achievement.
- @GregCook2011 quoted Rizwan Stanford's view: the research opens a new path for controlling virtual characters with a biological connectome (rather than relying solely on LLMs), and could eventually enable 'AI replicas' or digital twins based on our own connectomes. This prospect stands in contrast to the limits of the current demos—the structural map is known, but the mechanisms of firing and response remain unsolved.
2026-09-14 ~ 2026-09-16 · 5 related posts
Primary sources
- Neuroscientist debunks viral fly-brain demos: most Beat Saber and Doom stunts aren't real closed loops — patrickmineault ·
- Virtual flies aren't playing Doom: a reality check on the fly connectome sims — patrickmineault ·
- Skeptic Questions Viral Fly Demos: Just a Connectome Map with Claude Hallucinating? — faisal_sayed05 ·
- [source] Neuroscientist debunks viral fly-brain demos: most Beat Saber and Doom stunts aren't real closed loops — patrickmineault · 2026-09-14
- [source] Virtual flies aren't playing Doom: a reality check on the fly connectome sims — patrickmineault · 2026-09-14
- [source] Skeptic Questions Viral Fly Demos: Just a Connectome Map with Claude Hallucinating? — faisal_sayed05 · 2026-09-15
- Fly brain connectome seen as a new way to control virtual characters, beyond LLMs — GregCook2011 · 2026-09-16
1 near-duplicate retellings: patrickmineault