# Machine Minds May Swamp Organic Intelligence by Martin Rees > “There are chemical and metabolic limits to the size and processing power of ‘wet’ organic brains. Maybe we’re close to these already. But no such limits constrain silicon-based computers. By any definition of ‘thinking,’ the amount and intensity that’s done by organic human-type brains will be utterly swamped by the cerebrations of AI. So it won’t be the minds of humans, but those of machines, that will most fully understand the world—and it will be the actions of autonomous machines that will most drastically change the world, and perhaps what lies beyond.” > **— Martin Rees**, *Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future, Edge, 2015* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and full context:** [Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26160) — The linked publication contains the quoted passage and its surrounding argument. - **Master research record:** [[research/Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future|Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future]] — preserves this object inside the open Martin Rees source dossier. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Cannot Un-Strike the Match|We Cannot Un-Strike the Match]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Martin Rees|Martin Rees]] - [[wiki/Electronic Intelligence|Electronic Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Superintelligence|Superintelligence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “There are chemical and metabolic limits to the size and processing power of ‘wet’ organic brains. Maybe we’re close to these already. But no such limits constrain silicon-based computers. By any definition of ‘thinking,’ the amount and intensity that’s done by organic human-type brains will be utterly swamped by the cerebrations of AI. So it won’t be the minds of humans, but those of machines, that will most fully understand the world—and it will be the actions of autonomous machines that will most drastically change the world, and perhaps what lies beyond.” — Martin Rees, Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future, Edge, 2015 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-martin-rees-machine-minds-swamp-organic-intelligence ```