Why can't a computer be more like a brain?
Watson, A.
Science 277(5334): 1934-1936
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9333946 Document Number: 481529
Part of a special section on artificial intelligence. So-called neuromorphic engineers are using conventional Very Large Scale Integrated circuit technology in an attempt to build new kinds of chips that replicate elements of sensing and sense processing from the animal kingdom. Among the best developed products that utilize this approach are "silicon retinas," which are eyes on a chip that can sense and interpret a scene or pattern. These systems implement in silicon the sorts of neural circuits that govern vision in biological systems, enabling them to discern features of a scene such as brightness contrasts and the polarization of light. Furthermore, neuromorphic engineers are developing brainlike hardware to, among other things, detect drugs and explosives, produce music, and permit vehicles to drive themselves. The writer discusses the differences between conventional digital computers and the brain.