Bursic 8:00am
Group R08
Replicating a Mind
Dustin Brown (dmb132@pitt.edu)
electronics work” [5]. “The brain is kind of like a
biochemical factory, operating in a sphere that you can’t
stretch out on integrated circuits and circuit boards in order
to emulate all of its electrical activity” [6]. The brain adds an
entire level of complexity to computation. Therefore in my
reasoning attempting to recreate such a complex device
virtually only adds another level of complexity which is
unneeded.
METHODS OF ENGINEERING A BRAIN
“Figuring out how the brain works will offer rewards beyond
building smarter computers. Advances gained from studying
the brain may in return pay dividends for the brain itself”
[1]. The fields of computer science and engineering have
been converging in the modern world. These two fields hope
to combine their knowledge and attempt to understand how
our brains actually work in hopes of applying this
knowledge to the betterment of humanity. “Current robots
have as much in common with human movements as
helicopters do with seagulls,” Pai adds. “The challenges are
similar, but they use completely different solutions” [2].
Obviously such a daunting task as mapping and then
rebuilding a human brain has many different possible
solutions and approaches. Some want to simulate a brain
virtually. One such man is professor Henry Markram. “What
Markram's project amounts to is an audacious attempt to
build a computerised copy of a brain - starting with a rat's
brain, then progressing to a human brain - inside one of the
world's most powerful computers” [3]. While the professor’s
mission is an important one for the progress of humanity I
disagree with his method. I think that the best way to
emulate a brain is through a hardware approach. “The
simplest system stores and processes information the same
way the most complex system does; a primitive computer
from 1986 works a lot like a supercomputer.” This fact is
one which I believe needs to change. The brain functions
quite differently than our current integrated circuit style
computer chips and is obviously much more efficient and
powerful.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DIRECT EMULATION
An electrical engineering professor at USC is trying to do
exactly what I propose. “Parker and co-principal investigator
Chongwu Zhou, both of the USC Viterbi School’s Ming
Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, have teamed up
on the “BioRC (Biomimetic Real-Time Cortex) Project,”
which has set out to create nanocarbon brain neurons that
can talk to each other” [6]. This approach to engineering the
brain is researching exactly how a neuron fires and
attempting to replicate it in another way, through
nanotechnology. “The connectivity is too great and too many
delays are introduced. We had to turn to nanotechnology to
build something three-dimensionally, so that eventually
we’ll be able to emulate how the neurons fire and activate
others along a specific path within that sphere” [6]. While
computers using our current technologies are getting more
and more powerful by the year it doesn’t seem to make
much sense simply improving upon an obviously inferior
technology when we could be trying to expand our
computing horizons with truly new methods all together, and
this is why we should be trying to physically build our brains
now. The sooner we start, the sooner we can overcome the
fabrication-related problems with brain building.
WHY FABRICATING A BRAIN IS MORE EFFICIENT
HOW THE BRAIN WORKS COMPARED TO
CURRENT TECHNOLOGY
One important aspect tied into engineering is efficiency. The
simplest, most effective way of solving a problem is always
preferred to a more complex solution. To virtually simulate a
brain would, using today’s technology use an incredible
amount of energy and space. Professor Markram is using an
IBM Blue Gene supercomputer to attempt to virtually
simulate his brains. “Using just 30 watts of electricity enough to power a dim light bulb - our brains can
outperform by a factor of a million or more even the mighty
Blue Gene computer. But replicating a whole real brain is
'entirely impossible today', Markram says. Even the next
stage - a complete rat brain - needs a £200million, vastly
more efficient supercomputer. Then what? 'We need a
billion-dollar machine, custom-built. That could do a human
brain.' But computing power is increasing exponentially and
“With an IC, you know that every transistor fires the same-it's either on or off. But the neurons in the brain don't
necessarily do that--they fire sometimes 20, sometimes 80,
sometimes 100 percent” [4]. The human brain simply
doesn’t function like our current computer technology does.
“The control of the flow of electrons is what makes
electronics work. Finding a way to harness the unique nature
of semiconductors became a high priority for Bell Labs. In
1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first
working transistor. The transistor is a device designed to
control electron flows -- it has a gate that, when closed,
prevents electrons from flowing through the transistor. This
basic idea is the foundation for the way practically all
University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering
10/4/2011
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Dustin Brown
it is only a matter of time before suitable hardware is
available” [3]. While Markram may be right in saying that
the technology he requires will be realized in the next
decade it will definitely not be very efficient or practical.
[3].
ENDING THOUGHTS
While the task of reverse engineering the brain is
indisputably important in the world of engineering and in the
world in general the approach taken is important as well. I
think by trashing everything we know about computation
and starting anew with a hardware-based decoding strategy
will in the end have far greater rewards than simply pouring
more money into making old, less efficient technology.
REFERENCES
[1] (2011)
“Reverse-Engineer the Brain.” National Academy of
Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering, [Online Article].
Available: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9109.aspx
[2] (2008, June 12) “Reverse Engineering the Brain To Model Mind-Body
Interactions”
Science
Daily,
[Online:
Article].
Available:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612080431.htm
[3] (2010, Jan. 4) M. Hanlon. “The Real Frankenstein Experiment: One
Man’s Mission to Create a Living Mind Inside a Machine.” Mail Online,
[Online Article]. Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article1240410/The-real-Frankenstein-experiment-One-mans-mission-createliving-mind-inside-machine.html
[4] (2008, June) S. Adee. “Reverse Engineering the Brain.” IEEE Spectrum
Science
Forum,
[Online
Article].
Available:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/ethics/reverse-engineering-the-brain
[5] J. Strickland, “How Moore’s Law Works.” How Stuff Works, [Online
Article]. Available: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/moores-law1.htm
[6] (2009, Feb. 12) “How Do You Build a Synthetic Brain?” Science Daily,
[Onine
Article].
Available:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211194151.htm
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
B. Amadei. “Engineering for the Developing World.” National Academy of
Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering. [Online Article].
Available: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/7126/7356.aspx
(2011) “Introduction to the Grand Challenges for Engineering.” National
Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering. [Online Web
site]. Available: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx
(2008, Feb. 20) A. Revkin. “How Many ‘Grand’ Challenges Are Really
Policy Challenges?” The New York Times: The Opinion Pages. [Online
Article]. Available: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/howmany-grand-engineering-challenges-are-really-policy-challenges/
S. Unger, “Responsibility in Engineering: Victor Paschkis vs Wernher von
Braun.” IT Professional, Volume 12 Issue 3, 2010, p. 6-7, DOI
10.1109/MITP.2010.94
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ptolemy, Robert dir. Transcendent Man. Ptolemaic Productions, 2009.
Film.
University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering
10/4/2011
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