About Me

My research employs state-of-the-art machine learning methods to uncover the fundamental principles behind human cognition. I believe that to get a full understanding of the human mind, it is vital to consider it as a whole and not just as the sum of its parts. My long-term goal is to develop a unified theory of cognition, instantiated in models that can simulate, predict, and explain human behavior across a broad range of domains. Towards this end, I recently led the development of the first foundation model of human cognition.

Short Bio

Dr. Marcel Binz is a staff scientist and deputy head of the Institute for Human-Centered AI at Helmholtz Munich. His work is situated at the intersection of cognitive science and machine learning, aiming to uncover the computational principles of the human mind. He has published over thirty scientific articles, including papers in Nature, PNAS, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and Psychological Review, as well as leading machine learning venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR. His research has been featured in the New York Times, Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and been adapted into a children’s version for the Science Journal for Kids.

Key Publications

Binz, M., Akata, E., Bethge, M., Brändle, F., Callaway, F., Coda-Forno, J., ... & Schulz, E. (2025). A foundation model to predict and capture human cognition. Nature.

Binz, M., & Schulz, E. (2023). Using cognitive psychology to understand GPT-3. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Binz, M., Alaniz, S., Roskies, A., Aczel, B., Bergstrom, C. T., Allen, C., ... & Schulz, E. (2025). How should the advancement of large language models affect the practice of science? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Binz, M., Dasgupta, I., Jagadish, A., Botvinick, M., Wang, J.X., & Schulz, E. (2024). Meta-Learned Models of Cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Selected Media

Foundation models of human cognition.
MIT Quest for Intelligence Seminar Series.

Scientists Use A.I. to Mimic the Mind, Warts and All.
The New York Times.

How well can a computer think?
Science Journal for Kids.