The technological singularity is nearly upon us! Ok, it’s not going to happen any time soon, but a neuroscience endeavor taking place in Europe, called the Human Brain Project (HBP), is receiving 1.5 billion dollars in funding to create an accurate simulation of the brain. More than 80 research institutions are working together to construct a complete human brain simulation that they hope will revolutionize neuroscience, medicine, and technology. If successful, this project could be the catalyst for incredible new technologies and could propel us into an age of innovation.
The project is focusing on three areas of research, the first of which is neuroscience. Modern neuroscience has been very productive in analyzing and understanding the brain, but it has been impossible to systematically study the brain because of its incredible complexity. Neither physical nor theoretical aspects of neuroscience can fully describe the brain, which is composed of 100 billion neurons connected by 100 trillion synapses. The human brain is the most complex machine on earth and one of the least understood. An accurate simulation of the brain would create a multi-level view of the brain, help us understand the chain of events leading from genes to cognition, and contribute greatly to our understanding of the mind.
Brain disease awareness has steadily grown over the past few decades and brain disease treatment has become an incredible burden on hospitals around the globe. In Europe, the treatment of brain diseases costs more than that of heart diseases, cancer, and diabetes combined. The HBP hopes to work closely with hospitals and use their brain simulation as a means for better treatment and diagnosis of brain diseases. Brain diseases are barely understood and the HBP would reveal the gene mutation process which leads to different brain diseases. An accurate simulation of the brain would also enable drug testing without the need for animal or human trials.
The HBP’s last area of focus is in computing. Limited computing power is the most obvious challenge facing the HBP, and the project will require super-computers one thousand times more powerful than the computers of today. The project hopes to create neuromorphic computers which will “combine the power of microelectronics with the flexibility of human intelligence.” The HBP hopes to physically model the human brain on computer chips in order to create computers that can adapt to new situations and change their behavior like a real brain.
If the HBP is successful, I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that it would completely revolutionize technology. Sentient androids would leave the realm of science fiction and enter the world of reality. Robot butlers would be pretty sweet and you could have an actual conversation with Siri if you were bored. I’m pretty amazed that our brains are only one thousand times more powerful than current computing power, and if Moore’s law holds true, which it has for the last century, this could become a reality. A complete simulation of the human brain seems like something that is always 20 years away. It’s impossible to tell at this point whether or not this is feasible, but we’re definitely going to need John Connor if Google gets ahold of this technology.