Fly connectome demos get a reality check: a 150,000-unit fixed-topology network, not a simulated fly

austinvhuang · x · 2026-09-11

Researchers are tempering hype around the viral "full fly simulation" demos: kaixhin clarifies it is not a complete simulation of a fly doing all these things, and pfau urges replacing "fly" with "an artificial neural network with 150,000 units and a fixed topology" before being impressed. Still, they welcome the public engagement with the fly connectome and the lesson that small neural networks can do cool things.

Related event: Researchers Push Back on Fruit Fly Brain Claims: It's Just a 150K-Unit Fixed Network(3 posts)→

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