IBM Making Computers to Rival Human Brain

(CNET)  This story was written by CNET's Daniel Terdiman

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Computers capable of mimicking the human brain's power and efficiency could be just 10 years off, according to a leading researcher at IBM.

According to the researcher, Dharmendra Modha, the manager of IBM's cognitive computing initiative, scientists from his company and some of the world's most prestigious universities have already managed to simulate the computing complexity of the feline cortex, a feat that could augur a day not too far off when it will be possible to ramp up to what the human brain can accomplish.

Last year, IBM and five universities were awarded a DARPA contract to work on a cognitive computing project aimed at eventually achieving that goal. Just a year later, Modha said, his team, working in conjunction with the universities' scientists, have achieved two major milestones.

The first was a real-time cortical simulation that achieved more than 1 billion spiking neurons, as well as 10 trillion individual learning synapses. According to Modha, that exceeds what a cat's cortex is capable of.

Second, the scientists created a fresh algorithm they're calling BlueMatter that is aimed at spelling out the connections between all the human brain's cortical and sub-cortical locations. That mapping is a critical step, Modha suggested, for a true understanding of how the brain communicates and processes information.

The human brain, Modha said, is fundamentally different from today's computers in power and size, and he and the many scientists he is working with are eager to learn from the brain how to build new kinds of computing architectures. Part of the reason, he added, is that as our world gets more and more complex, a "tsunami" of data is being produced and analyzing those data demands "a new kind of cognitive system, a brain-like system, to make sense of it."

To achieve the goal, Modha and his fellow scientists are combining supercomputing, neuroscience, and nanotechnology research to demonstrate what's possible. The work they've done has progressed in just a year from the granting of the DARPA contract to today's achievements.

Modha said that examples of what could be done with computers working at this scale are realistic analysis of the world's water supply systems, or financial systems. The idea is to detect causality behind phenomena, and to make those connections quickly and effortlessly, the way the human brain works. Writing such a program using today's computers would be impossible, he said, but these future computers would be able to quickly distill answers to these kinds of enormous problems.

There's no promise, of course, that Modha and his colleagues will be able to advance the difference between the power of the cat and human cortexes in the next decade. After all, there's a difference of a factor of 20 between the two. But he sounded optimistic that a decade is a realistic goal.

But regardless of the timing, the aim is clear: reverse-engineer the human brain and learn its computational algorithms. And then deploy them in a bid to solve some of the world's most complicated computing problems.
By Daniel Terdiman

[brianbwb-2009]

"Modha said that examples of what could be done with computers working at this scale are realistic analysis of the world's water supply systems, or financial systems. The idea is to detect causality behind phenomena, and to make those connections quickly and effortlessly, the way the human brain works."

Ironic, that we can already do these things, we don't need an artificial intelligence, what we need is to listen to those who already do these things.

If someone now says that our water system is akin to the circulatory system of humans, and by polluting it, we cause environmental illness, he is called a "tree-hugger", amongst other pejoratives, and ignored by the uneducated, unenlightened, and just plain greedy.

So what is going to make them pay attention when a computer arrives at the same conclusion?

As for financial systems, the corruption, collusion, and other forms of cheating endemic to our financial systems introduce variables that cannot be computed, we all know the books are cooked, and the entire system is BS.

A truly intelligent system would soon conclude that such a system must collapse, the beginnings of which we are now experiencing.

Again if no one listens to the humans who know and accurately predict this, what will make anyone listen to a similar conclusion from a computer?

[stychokiller]

Great! Sounds like the "singularity" is right on track.

[ToolMangler1]

Everybody should watch the "Forbin Project". Lotsa fun and games there.
An offshoot of the 'Machine vs Man' genre of fiction. (Blood chilling if true) Other movies in that line, Dr. Strangelove, The Sum of all fears and others. All of these are good shows and if you stick "1984" by Orwell in the mix you can worry your self to death. The one thing that will help you remain sane (or regain your sanity) is to know in advance that there will not be one thing you or anybody can do to stop one of those scenarios from happening. Man is not capable of 'just saying no', he has to have someone in charge telling him what to do... or what not to do....

[daren12-2009]

One commenter above wrote, "There is no reason to program the "bad" human traits into the computer."

My question is - Who gets to decide which traits are bad and which are good?
Also, I find it interesting how we set ourselves up as the deciders of what true superior intelligence is. Can we get an outside, unbiased opinion?...sorry, there are none. Hmmmm, how convenient.

- D

[rwsmith29456]

Computers need to be able to change their mind.

[Wookiee-1138]

I think Hofstadter just orgasmed.

[eds27nj]

This is very interesting, but may not achieve the desired results. Remember that the human brain often comes up with wrong answers due to flawed reasoning, preconceived notions (religion, political ideology), or the inability to grasp all the complexities of a given problem. But the research is still interesting and worthwhile.

[mandylou4u]

Say a further goodbye to humanity, it has been on it's way out anyway.

[lovenpeace1]

Folks,

This is great scientific research. Soon, someone will make a computer that can think just like Saddam Hussain and Adoft Hitler. Every new technology brings goods and evils.

[ToolMangler1]

Everybody should watch the "Forbin Project". Lotsa fun and games there.
An offshoot of the 'Machine vs Man' genre of fiction. (Blood chilling if true) Other movies in that line, Dr. Strangelove, The Sum of all fears and others. All of these are good shows and if you stick "1984" by Orwell in the mix you can worry your self to death. The one thing that will help you remain sane (or regain your sanity) is to know in advance that there will not be one thing you or anybody can do to stop one of those scenarios from happening. Man is not capable of 'just saying no', he has to have someone in charge telling him what to do... or what not to do....

[nomealaska]

The red states are waiting...