The MPCR Labs Round Table Series presents AI in Education: Central Tensions — a guided round table debate exploring the unresolved tensions at the intersection of artificial intelligence and education.

The Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Laboratory enters Spring 2026 with an ambitious slate of research spanning the frontiers of natural computing and complex systems. With 20 active projects and 14 researchers working across disciplines, this is one of the most productive periods in the lab’s history.

The MPCR Lab AI Lecture Series continues this spring with talks from leading researchers at the intersection of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and social computing.

Profs. Elan Barenholtz and William Hahn presented at Akatos House in Waterloo, Ontario. Barenholtz delivered “Autoregression: Are Human Brains (Actually) LLMs?” followed by Hahn’s “Unconventional Forms of Computation in Nature,” with live Q&A and discussion.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the MPCR Digital Poster Gallery, a new platform for lab members to showcase their research in a rich, accessible format. The gallery is now live on our website and open for submissions.

We welcomed Dr. Rachel Aileen StClair, AI researcher and founder of Servamind, for a talk on how insights from biological systems can inform the design of more capable and efficient AI.

Project pages on the MPCR website now include Model Cards — tabbed documentation sections covering architecture, data, results, limitations, and reproducibility for each project.