The creation of an advanced artificial intelligence is not anymore sounding like a Sci-Fi scenario. However, such a task is difficult to be completed. Even though, some MIT engineers have designed a computer CPU that mimic the behavior of the brain.
The brain is more powerful… For the moment
The human brain is much more powerful than a CPU and it will remain that way for the moment, as there are more than 80 billion neurons and more than 100 trillion synapses in the human brain.
In 2013, for instance, a supercomputer was designed in order to simulate brain’s activity. The computer had 83,000 processors which were backed by a petabyte of main memory. This computer was only able to simulate the activity of 1.7 billion neurons which means only 1% of a brain’s capacity. And it took it 40 minutes to do that.
Things might change as the MIT scientists have designed a chip that behaves like the brain
MIT researchers in the field of neuromorphic computing have managed to create a CPU that is much more similar to a human brain. The new chip outcomes the primitive binary language of regular processors as it is created in an amorphous solid shape and is using synapse-like connections.
Engineers created a neuromorphic chip using lattices made of silicone to duplicate synapses’ paths as the silicone is permitting scientists to accurately control the electric current power that flows through them.
The chip successfully passed scientists’ tests
The engineers tested the chip during a handwriting recognition task. The chip recognized tens of thousands of handwritten numerals scoring a 95% accuracy, which is only by 2% lower than the accuracy of the best handwriting recognition software.
The final goal of the scientists, at the moment, is to design a fingernail-sized chip ‘to replace one big computer’, as Jeehwan Kim admitted. This new neuromorphic chip, however, is a big step towards real artificial intelligence.
