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We are pleased to announce that, in recognition of his foundational contributions to concept and category learning, folk biology, and research on culture–cognition interactions, Professor Douglas Medin of the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University has been elected an Academician of the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness (WAAC).
Professor Medin’s Context Theory/exemplar model reshaped scholarly understanding of human concepts and categorization: classification judgments can be driven directly by similarity to stored “instances” in memory, rather than relying solely on abstract prototypes and rules. Validated through rigorous experimental paradigms, this framework established exemplar-based learning and reasoning as a central pathway and a key baseline for subsequent work in category learning and representational modeling.
- Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem
Academicians of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness hail from institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, the French Academy of Sciences, the University of Padua, the University of Queensland, Columbia University, and the University of Exeter. Honorary Academicians come from a wide range of countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, and China. In addition, leading scientists from prominent research institutes and technology companies—such as Google, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and ZEEKR—also participate.
- About WAAC
The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.