posted on Jan, 15 2009 @ 07:20 PM
reply to post by GeeGee
However I'll tell you that the brain does not work like a computer. Computers do not have the ability to learn, only do what is programmed. The brain
is a learning machine. Ironically though, computers can do things that humans consider hard, but they can't do what we consider to be a piece of
cake.
lol wut? Computers can learn. Obviously you haven't been keeping up in the field. While it's true that computers currently must be programmed TO
learn, the lessons we learn from reverse engineering the brain are helping to overcome this hurdle and design computers which operate like the human
brain - wherein the ability to learn is an intrinsic principle of it's design.
The main difference lies in how the two were conceived. The human brain has a long evolutionary history, and it has been honed for eons to accept
electro-chemical stimuli in order to store pattern information from sensory organs and retrieve it. This is what helps differenciate potential mating
partners from prey from predators. While our brains technically do still contain far more number crunching capabilities, we cannot really utilize it
in a useful manner as it's already reserved for other functions. Think of what we have now in the expanded area of the brain as a math-coprocessor
which rather poorly emulates a basic calculator. Further, the real number crunching powerhouse of our brains is limited by extremely slow connection
and only appears fast due to a titanic volume of parallel processing.
Computers, on the other hand, were developed as solely number crunching monsters to cover these deficiencies in our own brain. It's gone through a
processes of selection of it's own in this regard, and so for this purpose, of course it doesn't have a similar structure or abilities to our own
brains. Having a computer modeled on a fish brain wouldn't be useful to us as we already possess far greater pattern recognition and memory retention
abilities. However, even a basic pocket calculator is of great benefit.
The two work on fairly similar principles. Both run on electricity. Synapse either fire or they don't. 1's or 0's. On or Off. However, while the
architecture and basis for each are a bit different - they are both computers, and provided the proper translation software (BCI's in this case) they
can communicate with each other. Discoveries in reverse engineering the brain and genetics can mold our brains to be more computer like, and
advancements in AI and pattern recognition software can make the computer more brain like. Even in archetecture, we find computers becoming
increasingly more and more brain like - as we start to shift away from singular 2-D silicon wafers into more 3D processors working in parallel.
Even if we could never resolve the architecture differences (which we can), there's always the inevitable fate of emulation. When we can model the
human brain activity down to each neuron firing and have a computer capable of emulating this - then you will regardless have a conscious AI on the
same level with the brain which is being emulated in all facets, including patten recognition and learning.