Do you remember the popular story by Mary Shelley – Dr. Frankenstein? Dr. Frankenstein created a monster that at the end brought its creator’s death. Soon a real person with artificial brain will walk on the face of earth if Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain project is able to put supercomputing technology in place with his scheme of things.
Henry Markram and his group of researchers in Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in collaboration with IBM have developed a computer simulation of the neocortical column of a 2-week-old rat. The neocortical column is the basic building block of the neocortex — the higher functional part of the brain responsible for reasoning and self-awareness.
Human brain might be biologically similar to a rat’s brain, but, is more complex. Markram will not make a quantum leap in developing an artificial human brain after developing computer simulations of only a portion of rat’s brain. But, he will move in an orderly manner. After rat, it will be cat then monkey and finally human – an evolutionary step indeed.
The supercomputing technology that is currently available can help to develop an entire rat’s brain. However, to build an artificial human brain using modern technology will require silicon chips covering several football pitches consuming $3 billion worth electricity every year.
Building of successful artificial human brain is directly related to the development and advancement of supercomputing technology.
Source: Guardian
Image: Wright