Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Robo-Ratatouille

A video appeared on SCIAM about a robot controlled by bundles of brain cells taken from lab rats. Days are not far when similar robots using human neurons will become a reality.

This reminds me of a test devised by Alan Turing, called the Turing Test.



The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machine's ability to demonstrate intelligence.

According to the Turing test: a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine, each of which try to appear human; if the judge cannot reliably tell which is which, then the machine is said to pass the test. (Wikipedia)



I really wonder how Mr. Turing would have reacted to these recent developments. This Robo-Rat will further strengthen his argument about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine consciousness. His main argument was about whether a machine could be considered conscious. If a machine is developed based on similar approach having an advanced control system based on human neurons and if a human is unable to differentiate it from another human, then it will pass the Turing Test.

Artificial Intelligence efforts invested in 70s didn't fructify mainly because the scientists failed to understand the complex human brain systems and operations, which they tried to replicate using artificial neurons. The current approach of building over a already complex biological neuron network would be much easier and fruitful then to start from the very basic cell level.

I hope these efforts are channeled towards productive development of these artificial machines with intelligence and emotions. That day Turing Test will become a reality and will no more be just a subject of academic interest.


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