IBM's Brain Chip

by Jerome Sabidong

Technology is one of the main factors that help us attain what we know in astronomy today. Rovers and probes are sent to space to gather information and send this information back to Earth so that we could make use of them. Telescopes help us physically see how far away objects look like. Technology continues to amaze us until today. What if these new technologies learn about the environment of other planets and filter useful data for us? What if telescopes recognize new objects that are not yet catalogued and notify us about it? What if “human brains” were sent to outer space without the need for food, yet still are able to function properly? Yes, they are possible in the future.

As we speak, the International Business Machines (IBM) has developed a microprocessor, called SyNAPSE, capable of mimicking how the human brain works. It learns by linking connections in its information channels called synapses (you see it right, spelled just like the microprocessor’s name), just like how the brain works.

What are synapses? Synapses connect neurons to other cells in our bodies, which enable us to interact with the environment around us. They respond to stimuli that our senses perceive which are later processed by the brain. After processing, the neurons make new connections in the brain which enable the brain to “remember” what it would respond. Scientifically speaking, this process is called learning. The stronger and more connections the brain has, the bigger learning an organism has. 

Synapses and Neurons, from Google

 The SyNAPSE works this way too, but it cannot solder and de-solder its wires repeatedly. That would be a design and implementation catastrophe both on the software and hardware side of its creation. Instead it “turns the volume up or down” of the signals where it wants to focus more. This is like selective learning, where you block the information on unimportant ideas or just pay less attention to it. SyNAPSE makes it possible for future developers and researchers to understand human behaviour and even replicate feelings in machines, which may end the idea of “heartless machines.” 

Now, with this in our hands in the near future, imagine what advancements would it give to the research community, especially in the field of astronomy? We could launch “conscious” machines to outer space, where we worry less about maneuvering its way to its destination, smart probes that easily recognize the edge of a cliff and respond immediately without waiting for a command sent by operators on Earth. Maybe a smarter jet engine which could repair broken satellites and put it back to work. The possibilities are limitless when we have successfully engineered the brain and share it to non-living objects to help us on our queries about the mystifying questions beyond our world and solar system.

Visualization of the microprocessor, from BBC News

 

Because the creation process of this chip is still ongoing, the creators are still having a problem on how the chip could handle its own. Greater computing power means more heat on the device, which could mean melting of the wires of the chip resulting to the chip’s destruction. Also, recognition would also be a great challenge because sense of sight is crucial in the part of observation. Although these upcoming problems present hindrances to the successful reverse engineering of the brain, the engineers are still doing their best to overcome the chip’s shortcomings for the betterment of the future of research.