[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm"]Artificial brain '10 years away'[/url]
A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed.
Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, has already simulated elements of a rat brain.
He told the TED Global conference in Oxford that a synthetic human brain would be of particular use finding treatments for mental illnesses.
Around two billion people are thought to suffer some kind of brain impairment, he said.
"It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years," he said.
"And if we do succeed, we will send a hologram to TED to talk."
'Shared fabric'
The Blue Brain project was launched in 2005 and aims to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from laboratory data.
In particular, his team has focused on the neocortical column - repetitive units of the mammalian brain known as the neocortex.
Neurons
The team are trying to reverse engineer the brain
"It's a new brain," he explained. "The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions complex cognitive functions.
"It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ."
And that evolution continues, he said. "It is evolving at an enormous speed."
Over the last 15 years, Professor Markram and his team have picked apart the structure of the neocortical column.
"It's a bit like going and cataloguing a bit of the rainforest - how may trees does it have, what shape are the trees, how many of each type of tree do we have, what is the position of the trees," he said.
"But it is a bit more than cataloguing because you have to describe and discover all the rules of communication, the rules of connectivity."
The project now has a software model of "tens of thousands" of neurons - each one of which is different - which has allowed them to digitally construct an artificial neocortical column.
Although each neuron is unique, the team has found the patterns of circuitry in different brains have common patterns.
"Even though your brain may be smaller, bigger, may have different morphologies of neurons - we do actually share the same fabric," he said.
"And we think this is species specific, which could explain why we can't communicate across species."
World view
To make the model come alive, the team feeds the models and a few algorithms into a supercomputer.
"You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron," he said. "So you need ten thousand laptops."
Instead, he uses an IBM Blue Gene machine with 10,000 processors.
Simulations have started to give the researchers clues about how the brain works.
For example, they can show the brain a picture - say, of a flower - and follow the electrical activity in the machine.
"You excite the system and it actually creates its own representation," he said.
Ultimately, the aim would be to extract that representation and project it so that researchers could see directly how a brain perceives the world.
But as well as advancing neuroscience and philosophy, the Blue Brain project has other practical applications.
For example, by pooling all the world's neuroscience data on animals - to create a "Noah's Ark", researchers may be able to build animal models.
"We cannot keep on doing animal experiments forever," said Professor Markram.
It may also give researchers new insights into diseases of the brain.
"There are two billion people on the planet affected by mental disorder," he told the audience.
The project may give insights into new treatments, he said.
The TED Global conference runs from 21 to 24 July in Oxford, UK.
If we are indeed this close... I can see artificial brains being 'installed' in at least 75% of the human population....
In all seriousness, it will be interesting to hear from CE on this one
Spoiler
testingtest12
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. Spoiler
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.......All those moments ... will be lost ... in time ... like tears in rain.
If you replace the mentally ill persons brain and then don't recognize them..
have you killed them?
or recreated them?
Right Speech has four aspects: 1. Not lying, but speaking the truth, 2. Avoiding rude and coarse words, but using gentle speech beneficial to the listener, 3. Not slandering, but promoting friendliness and unity, 4. Avoiding frivolous speech, but saying only what is appropriate and beneficial.
Invisable Man wrote:me personally if it offers me immortality im pro, i mean when i rule the world i want to rule it for a long time and wats longer than forever
They scanned each individual cell in this column by slicing it up and working exactly like an electrician checking the conductivity and resistance of an electrical circuit. Lobotomy. A ghastly work, that tiny grain-of-sand sized column took them years. If you think there's anything left of you after the decades it takes to 'scan' your brainmeats, be my guest and rule the world.
Plus, it will be some time before we have the computer capacity to support a full brain. And that's not even a full molecular simulation, only a schematic one. Which might just be what we need. Personally I think you're better off purchasing a couple of immortality rings.
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
So, more people trying their hand at playing God eh? Why cant these people ever seem to just take it easy, eat some cake, and role play Baldur's Gate for crying out loud. At least they'll be doing something productive with their time then.
"You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron," he said. "So you need ten thousand laptops."
I can just imagine this. Someone with wires linking his brain to 10000 laptops. Who needs hair when those snaking wires look so much cooler? Gives you multicolored options too!
Love is just a chemical. We give it meaning by choice ~ Eleanor Lamb, Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams
Loki[D.d.G] wrote:Why cant these people ever seem to just take it easy, eat some cake, and role play Baldur's Gate for crying out loud.
What do you think they're really doing? All the hype is just that, an attempt to justify swiping Uni resources while they really spend all their time trying to come up with an AI that really works. Ten years is probably the right time scale for BG3 or KOTOR 3 the way things are going.
[QUOTE=Darth Gavinius;1096098]Distrbution of games, is becoming a little like Democracy (all about money and control) - in the end choice is an illusion and you have to choose your lesser evil.
And everything is hidden in the fine print.[/QUOTE]
dragon wench wrote:If we are indeed this close... I can see artificial brains being 'installed' in at least 75% of the human population....
Count me out please *shudder*.
Proud SLURRite Gunner of the Rolling Thunder (TM) - Visitors WELCOME!
([size=0]Feel free to join us for a drink, play some pool or even relax in a hottub - want to learn more?[/size]
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
"It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years...
...said the leading scientist looking for tons of funding and plenty of news coverage.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
Their dance decides which and if you'll wear underwear tomorrow. I wouldn't piss them off.
[INDENT]'..tolerance when fog rolls in clouds unfold your selfless wings feathers that float from arabesque pillows I sold to be consumed by the snow white cold if only the plaster could hold withstand the flam[url="http://bit.ly/foT0XQ"]e[/url] then this fountain torch would know no shame and be outstripped only by the sun that burns with the glory and honor of your..'[/INDENT]
Almost seems like they have been making these claims for a while. Forgive me if I disbelieve we are even remotely close to coming out with a an artificial brain with anything even close to human personality and independent desire to learn...or not learn.
what there really gona do is get a sheeps brain but it in a snow globe and then hide a person under the table where its sitting and then he'll just read out little voice commands, its ingenius
penguin_king wrote:am i the only one that senses a skynet coming??
Why are you always going on about the end of the world? First a zombie apocalypse... now skynet? Im beginning to have a feeling that your coffee thread is not what it seems to be, perhaps something sinister was intended?
Love is just a chemical. We give it meaning by choice ~ Eleanor Lamb, Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams
