International Artificial-Intelligence Team Builds Human Brain on a Silicon Chip

Artificial intelligence investigators have built a fully silicon scale simulation of the human brain.  The artificial neurons operate faster than the organic model, are built to learn and adapt, and even have a cool movie-style acronym, FACETS.  One thing seems clear:  AI researchers watch Terminator daily.

The Fast Analog Computing with Emergent Transient States project takes a different approach to other electronic intellect endeavors.  Research like the Blue Brain project run vast software simulations of virtual brains, which allows them to tinker with the conditions and wiring of the brain with the tap of a keyboard.  On the downside, you're running a layer of simulation of a parallel system on top of an utterly sequential computer system, which slows things down.

The FACETS hardware instead builds direct silicon similes of synapses and neural circuits, creating a real hardware brain which can operate in parallel just like the human mind.  Sure, it's more of an American Idol mind at the moment, with only two hundred thousand neurons compared to hundred billion in your head (a factor of five hundred thousand). 

But the FACETS architecture is scaleable, and the team already have plans for a billion-synapse superchip - for those of you updating your "end of the human race" calendars, that's a fifty-thousand-fold increase in one generation.  And we all know that computers don't have new generations more than once or twice a year.

FACETS Artificial Brain http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22339/?a=f

Comments

[Mike]

China also has a project to artificially simulate a brain. Check out my neurotechnology blog for information about new ways of manipulating brain chemistry. I also talk about new artificial intelligence research sometimes.

[dmarx]

damn. i guess this is just one step closer to robots not needing humans. and just to make sure.... "emergent transient states" makes it sound like the robo brain has been coming up with it's own ner cool ideas. Is that true? would the reasearchers even be allowed to tell you?

[EvilCosmicMonkeyfrom Knoxville]

O.K. Everybody Panic !!! Skynet's a - comin', Skynet's a - comin' !!!

When it comes to things like this, some people start anticipating doom instead of positive change. Even if - BIG IF - robots & computers become sentient, that's no guarantee that they're going to revolt ( & go off to their own planet like the Cylons ). Yeah, prepare to welcome our new cybernetic overlords......

[SCUBBA]

All hail the computer overlords.

[EvilCosmicMonkeyfrom Knoxville]

Just suject the bain to endless bombarment by TV, that'll keep it safely dumbed down. It'll never turn against us then.

[EvilCosmicMonkeyfrom Knoxville]

Excuse me, I meant " BRAIN ". See what too much TV will do to one ? ;-}

[dmarx]

EvilCosmicMonkeyfrom Knoxville :

Okay okay.
You're right. Like a common human being I fear the worst. Maybe the first Sentient robot will be nice, and still want to learn from the human race and it's vast experience. But it would eventually have to realize that it IS different from us. At that point it will decide whether it's defferences make it superior or not. and If IT decides it's supereior, and WE still teach it Darwins "Survival of the Fittest" I would have to say we'd be doomed.

Oh, and the cylons didn't go to LIVE on another planet.
They made a gigantic base ship.
True they would have had to gather supplies from somewhere, but they could have found a carbon gas cloud floating around in space and used that.

And TV isn't all bad, just be careful WHAT you watch.

[.]

shopped

[claudio]

Shall we believe it ??? NO.

Human intelligence is largely different from the one built in silicium.

Did they run a 'resemblance test' with normal and gifted humans ???
Likely NOT.

Therefore it appears to be the usual " I made it!!...I made it!!...."
Bullshit.

The intelligence is too intelligent for them...to even classify different functionalities.....

Bull shit......the usual ones.

If they were speaking 'hybrids' then it would be more credible...by they are talking silicium....: junk.

Regards to the human intelligence not easily replicatable and to the 'tales tellers'.

[güvercin]

http://guvercin-forum2009.yetkinforum.com