New York Times
Inspired
by the architecture of the brain, scientists have developed a new kind
of computer chip that uses no more power than a hearing aid and may
eventually excel at calculations that stump today’s supercomputers.
The chip, or processor, is named TrueNorth and was developed by researchers at IBM and detailed in an article
published on Thursday in the journal Science. It tries to mimic the way
brains recognize patterns, relying on densely interconnected webs of
transistors similar to the brain’s neural networks.
The
chip’s electronic “neurons” are able to signal others when a type of
data — light, for example — passes a certain threshold. Working in
parallel, the neurons begin to organize the data into patterns
suggesting the light is growing brighter, or changing color or shape.
The
processor may thus be able to recognize that a woman in a video is
picking up a purse, or control a robot that is reaching into a pocket
and pulling out a quarter. Humans are able to recognize these acts
without conscious thought, yet today’s computers and robots struggle to
interpret them.
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