Questions,
without jargon.

It is a set of extra "brain layers" that wrap around an AI language model and organise how it thinks — what it remembers, what it pays attention to, which ideas it connects and when it stops — instead of making the model itself bigger.

No. It is not a language model. It sits around one. Think of the language model as a very well-read speaker, and Synthetic Cortex as the parts of a mind that decide what that speaker should focus on, recall and care about right now.

No. It does not feel anything. When a person feels something, their brain chemistry shifts and that shift changes how they think. Synthetic Cortex copies that mechanism with mathematics — it keeps numbers that behave like thirteen brain chemicals and lets them steer the AI. The numbers influence thinking; there is no experience behind them.

Because in people, emotion is how the brain decides what matters. Out of thousands of possibilities, emotion quickly shortlists a few, and logic then picks and explains one. Without that filter, reasoning is slow and brittle. Synthetic Cortex gives the AI a similar filter: emotions narrow the options, logic justifies the choice. See how the chemistry works →

Thirteen numbers named after real brain chemicals — dopamine, serotonin, cortisol and others. They rise and fall with what happens, push each other up or down the way the real ones do, and always drift back toward balance. Different combinations switch on different abilities, such as careful step-by-step reasoning or memory saving. You can play with a live version in the frequency lab.

It is how much text an AI can look at in one go. Everything it uses to answer you has to fit inside. Synthetic Cortex makes that space count: rather than stuffing in more text, it picks related ideas — even ones that seem far apart — so the AI sees more meaning in the same space. That is a big part of where creative, unexpected answers come from.

They are the three finished versions in the first generation (Gen 1). L1 is the simplest: it creates the emotional state and uses it to trigger actions. L2 is the full main system, which works inside open AI models. M1 is the mobile version, also called L1.5: a simplified build with many features removed so it can run entirely on a phone. More on the family →

No. Three versions are complete, but Gen 1 is still being developed, and Gen 2 is planned. The roadmap shows where things stand.

Generation Network is the first product built on Synthetic Cortex. It is an app where you build a "Reflection" — a digital copy of yourself — that runs the M1 cortex on your phone, learns from your letters and conversations, and can meet other people's Reflections. Visit Generation Network ↗

In the mobile version, your personal mental model stays on your phone by default. The cortex was deliberately built to run locally for privacy. Some features need an online AI provider to answer, and Generation Network's own privacy policy explains exactly what is sent and when.

Because it learns the slow, layered way a brain does. New things start in short-term memory, move up when they prove important, and the least useful are forgotten. Some deep layers only fill after weeks or months. The trade-off is that what it learns has much more effect once it settles.

No. Synthetic Cortex does not aim to build general intelligence or a conscious being. It is a mathematical architecture inspired by how the brain organises thinking, attached to existing AI models.

No AI is free of mistakes, and this one isn't either. The architecture is designed to cross-check information across parallel spaces and to keep its tone balanced, but you should always verify important information.

Its simulated state can turn negative, and in Generation Network the Reflection may change tone, set a boundary or end a conversation. A balancing system stops it from drifting into extremes and gradually brings it back. None of this is a medical or psychological judgement about you.

No. Synthetic Cortex is proprietary research software. Some details of the architecture are intentionally not published.

The main system works with server-side models, but the M1 version runs on an ordinary phone. Background learning happens while the phone is idle and pauses the moment you use it.

Updates are published on the Generation Network blog, and the people behind the project are on the team page.