[extropy-chat] Jeff Hawkins and AI

[Keith Henson]

At 02:05 PM 24/03/05 -0500, you wrote:
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/technology/24think.html
>
>http://news.com.com/IBM+computing+algorithm+thinks+like+an+animal/2100-7337_3-5630880.html

As anyone can see who searches on my name and that of William Calvin, I 
have been talking about this for years.

"The brain consists of roughly 28 billion cells, Peck explained. The 200 
million minicolumns essentially gather sensory data and organize it for 
higher parts of the brain. The minicolumns also communicate with each other 
through interconnections. Minicolumns are roughly 1/20 of a millimeter in 
diameter and extend through the cortex.

"The mathematical model created at IBM simulates the behavior of 500,000 
minicolumns connected by 400 million connections. With it, "we were able to 
demonstrate self-organization" and behavior similar to that seen in the 
real world, Peck said."

So they have done 1/400 of the cortical area.  I sure wonder that the 
"cycle" metric is?  Assuming they have come close to human rates, and that 
they were not using a top of the line super computer, we are only a few 
years from human level AI based on a natural model.

Anyone have a copy of the paper they are about to present?

Keith Henson

PS.  I wonder if Eliezer has any comments?