Neural Nets vs. Cellular Automata

intersting idea to do it in a distributed way with people help.

I know it's not the same idea, but I think it's worth mentioning the adjacent concept of 'neural CA':

https://www.neuralca.org/

https://google-research.github.io/self-organising-systems/di...

https://google-research.github.io/self-organising-systems/is...

I can see why Mordvintsev et al are up to what they are doing, but to be honest I'm struggling with understanding the point of using a neural-net to 'emulate' CAs like OP seems to be doing (and as far as I can gather, only totalistic ones too?).

It sounds a bit like swatting a fly using an H-bomb tbh, but maybe someone who knows more about the project can share some of the underlying rationale?