I think the idea is that this is found in nature as a single material. Silicon doesn't do anything remotely brain-like until humans etch intricate patterns in

I think the idea is that this is found in nature as a single material. Silicon doesn't do anything remotely brain-like until humans etch intricate patterns in it and run precise electrical currents through them. I think the use of neural networks is a kind of boring approach to studying this crystal. Of course the algorithm it uses is going to be more adaptable than an arbitrary algorithm selected by the researcher, otherwise they would have chosen a different algorithm to prove the truism. I'm more interested in hearing about the physical mechanism by which a crystal manages to store and forget information, and some theory about how this could have come to exist without resorting to life-based arguments like survival of the fittest or evolution.