The Advocate:
Hugh Wilson, Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception, Fellow
The Pitch
Every person reading this is the proud owner of the most advanced, powerful computer on the planet – the human brain. Computer makers can tout the processing power of their most advanced chips, but even the best computer hardware can be easily outperformed in pattern recognition by children and adults. If we could build an artificial system that could think and process patterns like a brain, it would forever change the way we think, both about computers and about brains.
What does it mean that a child can outperform a supercomputer? Obviously computers are much better at some tasks – doing complex mathematical operations, for example. But some jobs are better performed by children – any child, for instance, can look at a picture they have never seen before, and correctly assess that it is an image of a dog. Even today’s best computers running the latest algorithms struggle to do this kind of task quickly and reliably.
That’s just the start – our brains give us amazing capacity to interact with and learn about the world around us. Pattern recognition, categorization, error correction – computers can’t come close to matching the human brain’s ability to assimilate sensory information – sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings – and turn it into a coherent, useful, meaningful model of the world.
Computers don’t come close, but they do come much closer than they used to. A confluence of technological, theoretical and experimental advances mean that we are nearer than ever to developing a “learning algorithm” that will effectively allow us to create an artificial brain that has the same capacity to understand its environment as a human being.
The technological implications are vast: everything from better Internet search engines to improved airport security. Even more awe-inspiring, though, is that the building of a brain will elucidate the nature of human thought itself. Answering this will demystify the wonders of the brain – the astonishing capabilities that effectively make human beings what they are.
The Bottom line
“Can we build a brain?” is the Next Big Question because it will not only drive major technological advances, but also push us to understand the true nature of our selves.