The Mycelial Interface

Fungal Networks as a Model for Artificial Intelligence

When most people picture artificial intelligence, the comparisons go straight to the brain. Neurons firing, connections linking, signals moving in circuits. But there is another kind of network hidden just underfoot. Mycelium stretches through soil like an underground lacework, connecting trees and plants into something larger than themselves. It does not sit in one place the way a brain does. It spreads, it feels its way around rocks and roots, it passes signals and nutrients across miles. To call it intelligent might sound strange, yet it has kept forests alive for ages. Looking at it closely, you start to wonder if machines might learn more from fungi than from neurons.