Scientists have been striving for decades to build a machine that thinks like a human. And now they believe they are only a few steps from the finish line.
A Pentagon-funded research team has constructed a tiny machine that allows robots to operate independently. Unlike traditional artificial intelligence systems that rely on conventional programming, this machine "looks and thinks like a human brain," says University of California chemistry professor James Giemsewski.
Giemsewski is a member of the DARPA-sponsored physical intelligence program. This technology could be the secret to building fully autonomous robots.
According to him, this project does not use standard robotic stuffing with integrated microcircuits. The device designed by his team is capable of performing actions in the same way as a human does without being programmed like a traditional robot.
What sets this new device apart from any others is the intersecting nanowires that form billions of connections, like the neurons of the human brain, capable of storing various information. Each connection is an artificial synapse. Due to the complex structure of the natural synapse, most previous artificial intelligence projects could not replicate it.
According to Giemsewski, the “physical intelligence” device will not require human control in the way that robot control would. The applications of this technology are beyond imagination. For example, planes with such a system will be able to study and explore the terrain and make their way through space without human intervention.
Artificial intelligence research over the past five decades has not been able to replicate the human thinking and cognitive functions. But the study of the human brain has shown that one of its key features is self-organization.
“This appears to be a prerequisite for autonomous behavior,” says Giemsewski. "Instead of moving information from memory to a processor like traditional computers do, our device processes information in a completely new way."
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The details of the development are still kept secret, but, apparently, we will witness a revolutionary breakthrough in robotics.