> There is no need to build airplanes with flapping wings, but you could still say that human flight is inspired by bird flight.

This is a super interesting analogy and it's changed my perspective a bit. But it all depends on your end goal. You say:

> We don't even know if the human brain is actually good at what it's doing.

What is it doing? Do we want our AIs to maximize learning or just human-like behavior? If it's the latter, I believe you absolutely want to look at neuroscience and emulate the human brain. Of course, airplanes are super good at flying, but they look nothing like birds.