The paper considers the history of creation, composition and activities of the St. Petersburg branch of the Scientific Council on the Methodology of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Research under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A pronounced orientation to practice of the department members is shown, which is associated with the predominance of engineering and natural science scientists in its membership. The Council stimulates work related to the interdisciplinary synthesis and convergence of the humanities and natural sciences in solving the problem of artificial intelligence.