Thursday, August 18, 2011

IBM Creates Computer Chip that Mimics the Human Brain - the Origins of Skynet


Because we apparently haven't learnt anything from the numerous movies in which robots learn to think for themselves and take over the world, IBM has created a computer chip that is said to mimic the human brain.

Computers that mimic the human brain's cognition, perception, and action abilities are a lot closer than you think after IBM unveiled the first generation of chips that will power them on Wednesday.
IBM developed the chips with a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the goal of which, according to IBM, is:

"to create a system that not only analyzes complex information from multiple sensory modalities at once but also dynamically rewires itself as it interacts with its environment--all while rivaling the brain's compact size and low-power usage."

While IBM haven't completely crossed over to the dark side and used biological elements in the chips, they do have digital silicon circuits "inspired by neurobiology to make up what is referred to as a 'neurosynaptic core' with integrated memory (replicated synapses), computation (replicated neurons), and communication (replicated axons)."

So far, the company has used the chips to demonstrate basic applications such as pattern recognition, machine vision, classification, navigation, and associative memory.
The chips, and new computers that will follow aren't designed to replace existing computers, but will instead supplement them. In the same way that Tim Tams and Tea go together quite nicely.




via cnet

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