Why AI Can't Reason Over Time: A Bioengineer on Building What Doesn't Exist Yet

A career-ending soccer injury sent Michael Iwashima toward engineering. Years later, he's building brain-computer interfaces that let people with paralysis play Space Invaders, 3D-printable biosensors that help farmers detect crop disease, and a mold-detection startup aimed at a problem most homeowners can't see.

In this Still Human conversation, Michael talks through the limits he keeps running into with current AI. It's powerful at one-shot tasks, he says, but it can't reason over time. It doesn't reflect, doesn't remember, doesn't adjust the way humans do across days and weeks. That gap shapes how he builds.

Show Notes

Michael Iwashima is a bioengineer and student founder working at the intersection of brain-computer interfaces, agricultural biosensors, and accessibility technology. He came to engineering after a soccer injury closed an earlier path. Today his work spans BCI research aimed at people with paralysis and cerebral palsy, frugal-science biosensors developed in association with the Verma Lab at Purdue, and a startup focused on mold detection. He also helped build AI Collaborate at Santa Clara University into a 200-member community after the club nearly folded in its first year. For the Still Human audience, Michael is the guest who pushes the AI conversation past hype and toward where the technology actually meets the human body.

Articles & Research

Verma Lab (Purdue University) — Research group associated with Michael's work on 3D-printable, low-cost biosensors for agricultural applications

Tools & Resources

Relevant to this episode:

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) — Hardware and software systems that translate neural activity into control signals, enabling people with paralysis to interact with devices and games like Space Invaders
3D-printable biosensors / frugal science — Low-cost, field-deployable sensors designed to detect crop disease and other biological signals without expensive lab infrastructure
AI Collaborate (Santa Clara University) — Student community Michael helped grow from near-shutdown to ~200 members, focused on building and shipping AI projects together

Related Still Human Episodes

People Mentioned

No additional people were cited by name in this episode beyond the host and guest.

Timestamps

Timestamps are approximate — click to jump directly on YouTube.

[00:00:00] — Michael Iwashima intro: bioengineering, BCI work, and the path through injury
[00:03:00] — The soccer injury that ended one path and opened another
[00:07:30] — Brain-computer interfaces: Space Invaders, paralysis, and accessibility
[00:12:00] — Why AI can't reason over time — the limit Michael keeps running into
[00:16:30] — Frugal science: 3D-printable biosensors and AI in agriculture
[00:20:00] — Mold detection: building a startup around a problem most people can't see
[00:23:30] — AI Collaborate at Santa Clara: from near-shutdown to 200 members
[00:26:00] — A "1 of 1" education model: AI for knowledge, humans for curiosity
[00:28:30] — Why community building is the most underrated skill in an AI-saturated world
[00:30:00] — Where to find Michael and what he's working on now

Key Takeaways

AI still can't reason over time. It's strong on one-shot tasks but doesn't reflect, remember, or adjust across days and weeks the way humans do. That gap is where Michael focuses his work.
Execution culture beats ideas. AI Collaborate almost folded in its first year. What turned it around wasn't a better idea — it was follow-through.
A "1 of 1" education model. Let AI handle knowledge transmission so humans can focus on curiosity, judgment, and the parts of learning that don't compress into a tutorial.
Community building is underrated. In an AI-saturated world, the bottleneck isn't access to information; it's the people you build alongside.
Accessibility teaches you what AI is for. Working on tech for people with paralysis and cerebral palsy reframes the question from "what can AI do" to "where does it actually expand what a human body can do."

In This Episode

Why "AI can't reason over time" is the real limit — Michael's working frame for where the technology stops and where humans still matter
Brain-computer interfaces for accessibility — BCI research aimed at people with paralysis, including controlling games like Space Invaders through neural signals
Frugal science and AI in agriculture — 3D-printable, low-cost biosensors developed in association with the Verma Lab at Purdue, designed to detect crop disease in the field
A mold-detection startup — Building a company around a problem most homeowners never see until it's too late
From near-shutdown to 200 members — How AI Collaborate at Santa Clara University became a community after almost folding, and what that says about execution culture
A "1 of 1" education model — Letting AI handle knowledge transmission so humans can focus on curiosity, judgment, and creativity
Community building as a frontier skill — Why Michael thinks this is the most underrated capability in an AI-saturated world

About Michael Iwashima

Michael Iwashima is a bioengineer and student founder building at the intersection of brain-computer interfaces, agricultural biosensors, and accessibility technology. His path into engineering ran through a career-ending soccer injury, which gave him an early relationship with rebuilding from nothing. His current work spans BCI research aimed at people with paralysis and cerebral palsy, frugal-science biosensors developed in association with the Verma Lab at Purdue University, and a startup focused on mold detection. He also helped build AI Collaborate at Santa Clara University into a 200-member community after it nearly folded in its first year. For the Still Human audience, Michael is the guest who moves the AI conversation past hype and toward where the technology actually meets the human body — and where it still falls short.

Connect With Michael Iwashima

Watch the episode: youtube.com/watch?v=GkyO4MgQW1k
Add Michael's Instagram, LinkedIn, or personal website here

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Still Human Podcast is a biweekly show by Oshen Studio, hosted by Perkin — exploring what it means to stay human in the age of AI. Real conversations with builders, creators, founders, and thinkers doing it in real life.

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Why AI Can't Reason Over Time: Michael Iwashima on Brain-Computer Interfaces, Biosensors, and Building From Nothing