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November 22nd, 2008

IBM to Build “Thinking” Computers Modeled on the Brain

Abstract:
IBM has won a $4.9 million government grant from DARPA to begin the first phase of research on "cognitive computing"- essentially building computers that work like living brains. The new brain-like computers will aim to process vast amounts of data to solve problems without relying on specific programmed algorithms. Mark Dean, Vice President of IBM said, "The challenge is that computers today are very good at computing, but what we really need is a more efficient way of sifting through information" [International Herald Tribune].

The inside of computers already have the look of neural networks, a static road map of electronic circuits. But the brain actually works by constantly creating, breaking, and tweaking the synaptic connections between neurons. Although today's computers may excel at complex challenges with clear rules, like chess, they fail at simple tasks that require strategy, sensation, perception, and learning, like finding misplaced keys. IBM will partner with five universities to develop new nano-scale circuitry that has the ability to shift depending on the signals that pass through them. Free from the constraints of explicitly programmed function, computers could gather together disparate information, weigh it based on experience, form memory independently and arguably begin to solve problems in a way that has so far been the preserve of what we call "thinking" [BBC].

Source:
discovermagazine.com

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