A New Marriage of Brain and Computer

Google Tech Talks
September, 21 2007

ABSTRACT

Brain and computer were wed mid-twentieth century by the McCulloch-Pitts model neuron and Hodgkin-Huxley equations for digital firing in biological neurons. Since then, brain neurons, synapses, firings and networks have been considered analogous to electronic switches, states and circuits in classical computers. But despite extraordinary advances and bold predictions, consciousness seems ever
more elusive. On this, and other divisive issues like EEG gamma synchrony, deviations from Hodgkin-Huxley, gap junctions, dendritic
webs/hyper-neurons, anesthesia, quantum computers and clear demonstration of functional quantum coherence in warm protein...

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[QuantumKitten2]

And furthermore, how can people possibly think we'll have good AI systems once we hit this arbitrary 10^16 operations per second threshold? We can barely write good software for multicore processors... we have no idea how to write good software for enormous neural networks!

[F00dTube]

kadjach: You are right, nobody needs a degree to start yapping off on the internet. But you already told us that no thought takes place in your brain, it's just a translator for your spiritual diarrhea. Even spirituality has to adhere to laws of gravity and be cohesive at some extent. Otherwise it's just trivial and void.

[amabodei]

Glad to find this talk again - very interesting!

[markomanius]

@QuantumKitten2 We can't make AI even if we had 10^16 op/s, however, you are forgetting that humans do not have written software on their birth. We learn and it takes us decades to get to our full potential, whatever that means. I don't think we could/should "write software AI", we should make adequate surrounding inputs. But, that is so difficult I can't imagine how that can happen... Non the less, history have taught us never to underestimate our intelligence (and/or stupidity).

[pyrrho314]

@andrewjbean : you don't get the problem... why would a process have a subjective experience.

[pyrrho314]

@QuantumKitten2 : because they'll write it themselves!!!! j/k

[andrewjbean]

I liken these types of consciousness studies with arguments for creationism. It's all just so ridiculous. Nothing here has anything to do with what consciousness is, which is never defined in this talk. Consciousness is just a coordinated process of evolving the representations of knowledge in the brain.

[trickyoutrickme]

@7255202 Sounds interesting, thanks! =)

[7255202]

@trickyoutrickme Destination: Void by Frank Herbert.

[trickyoutrickme]

@QuantumKitten2 Thats why we have to "convince" it to write itself ;-)