The Lex Fridman Podcast – #394 – Neri Oxman: Biology, Art, and Science of Design & Engineering with Nature

Intro

In this episode of “The Lex Fridman Podcast,” host Lex Fridman engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Neri Oxman, an engineer, scientist, designer, architect, and artist. They explore the intersection of biology, art, science, design, and engineering, with a focus on working with nature to revolutionize product design and build a sustainable future. Neri Oxman’s expertise and vision provide valuable insights into the potential of computational design, digital fabrication, material science, and synthetic biology.

Main Takeaways

Biology, Art, and Science of Design & Engineering with Nature

• Neri Oxman is an engineer, scientist, designer, architect, and artist who works at the intersection of computational design, digital fabrication, material science, and synthetic biology.
• She led the mediated matter group at MIT that built incredible stuff at all scales, from the micro to the building scale.
• Oxman is now working with a new company to revolutionize how humans design and build products by working with nature, not against it.

Understanding the Connection Between Humans and Nature

• Humans are separated from nature by the products we have designed, which ironically have separated us from it.
• There is an intricate connection between humans and nature that we are still trying to understand and leverage.
• Nature has a wisdom that exists beyond intelligence, and we are trying to tap into it through technology.

Material Ecology and Sustainable Production

• The balance between anthropomass and biomass on the planet has shifted, and we need to consider a material ecology approach where everything can be perceived as nature grown.
• Material ecology is a term coined in 2005 to consider all things materials as part of the ecology, with a positive impact on the environment where all things are connected.
• The dream is to create a world where buildings in cities augment and heal nature, where you cannot separate between grown and made.

Computational Tools Empowering Nature

• The mission is to understand the language that exists across all kingdoms of life and generate computational tools that empower nature to build better.
• Oxman is a company with a diverse team of synthetic biologists, microbiologists, chemists, architects, designers, and robot assistants.
• They are working on creating computational tools that can interface with nature and empower it to build better.

Hybrid Living Materials and Transgenic Operations

• The team worked with bees, silkworms, E. coli, and other organisms to create biodegradable materials.
• Hybrid living materials (HLMs) were created through the Vespers project, paving the way for potential applications in other products.
• The use of transgenic operations on organisms raises ethical concerns, especially in the silk industry where thousands of cocoons are exterminated for a single shirt.

Understanding Life and Consciousness

• Plants communicate using molecular models, and it may be possible to parse and understand their language in the future.
• Plant neurobiology is a real thing, and plants have something akin to a nervous system that operates on a slow time scale.
• Understanding these molecular footprints could lead to precision agriculture and better predictions of crop behavior for the benefit of humanity.

Connecting AGI and Nature

• Connecting AGI to nature could lead to a different form of existence where everything is made out of six elements and biology, plus some genes and atoms.
• Synergy between AGI and nature could lead to diversification and answering questions that take thousands of years to answer.
• The connection between all living beings across the universe is an important problem to understand.

Summary

Exploring the Interplay of Design, Engineering, and Nature

Neri Oxman, a multi-disciplinary expert, delves into the potential of computational design, digital fabrication, material science, and synthetic biology to transform the way humans design and build products. She highlights the need to reconnect with nature and leverage its wisdom to create sustainable and harmonious designs. Oxman’s company, Oxman, is at the forefront of developing computational tools that empower nature to build better, bridging the gap between technology and the natural world.

Material Ecology and the Shift Towards Sustainable Production

Oxman emphasizes the concept of material ecology, where everything is perceived as nature grown, blurring the boundaries between what is created and what is naturally occurring. By adopting a material ecology approach, buildings and cities can augment and heal nature, creating a symbiotic relationship between the human-made and the natural. This approach challenges traditional assembly-based industries and aims to create a complete chain of sustainable production.

Empowering Nature and Understanding Life’s Language

Oxman’s team is focused on understanding the language that exists across all kingdoms of life and developing computational tools that empower nature to build better. By interfacing with nature and leveraging its innate intelligence, they aim to create novel and sustainable products. Through research on plant communication and plant neurobiology, they explore the possibility of parsing and understanding the molecular footprints of plants, leading to advancements in precision agriculture and a deeper understanding of consciousness.

The Intersection of AGI and Nature

Oxman envisions a future where artificial general intelligence (AGI) is connected to nature, creating a new form of existence where everything is composed of a combination of elements and biology. This synergy between AGI and nature has the potential to diversify life forms and provide answers to questions that have taken thousands of years to answer. Understanding the connection between all living beings, both on Earth and beyond, is a fascinating and important problem to explore.

Conclusion

Neri Oxman’s exploration of the interplay between biology, art, science, design, and engineering with nature offers a fresh perspective on sustainable production and the potential of computational tools. By empowering nature and embracing its wisdom, we can create a future where the boundaries between the human-made and the natural are blurred, leading to harmonious and innovative designs. The connection between AGI and nature opens up new possibilities for understanding life, consciousness, and the universe. It is through these interdisciplinary approaches that we can shape a more sustainable and meaningful future.