$1.61 billion to build a human brain simulation by 2024

Henry Markram and the Human Brain Project are in talks with EU for $1.61 billion to achieve human brain emulation by 2024.

2024 is just 12.5 years away. So...

Once you build it, and it works, is it alive?

Can you ethically turn it off? What if you teach it language, and it writes "don't turn me off!"?

Can it experience suffering? What if you program it to feel like it's on fire, forever? Does that experience exist, does it mean anything? Or is it just a virtual representation, a terribly complex emoticon?

This is scary.

2012 + 12

Reminds me of that "Jeopardy" playing robot that IBM built. That think was fucking scary good. Was that the same dood?

But, but... we already have bots that can chat with humans on the internet!

this is incredibly interesting

I don't think he's got a hope in hell of doing this to any useful extent in by 2024

Computational power that can theoretically simulate a human brain in realtime by 2024? Seems possible. An actual brain model running on that hardware that behaves somewhat human? I doubt it.

12.5 years isn't really enough to make something of any significant intelligence. That's probably enough time to make something on par with... Maximus Mischief. Add an extra five years and you'll have the intelligence of a glass of water.

I'm no scientist, but I can't see how this will work.

Ya'll aint seen this? Watson's pretty smart

I don't think they are actually going to be making a 'living' simulation but they can map out a brain in a model and stimulate it in certain ways and see which parts respond to that

yeah. this is sort of like the human genome project for the brain, i gather. they'll get it done and it'll be an amazing achievement great for research etc. but it won't be HAL 9000

  On 5/19/2011 at 12:57 AM, Obel said:

12.5 years isn't really enough to make something of any significant intelligence. That's probably enough time to make something on par with... Maximus Mischief. Add an extra five years and you'll have the intelligence of a glass of water.

 

I'm no scientist, but I can't see how this will work.

yeah, i don't really think this is an AI project, their premise for getting the data mapped out is already ambitious enough.

This is a project I can get behind spending obscene amounts of money on.

what if it's troon?

If I were Bill Gates I would pay a different group of scientists $5.74 billion to build a more advanced human brain. (WIN95 MOST IDM THING 2011! )

there's no way the computer brain will just randomly start fantasizing about hot chicks as much as my brain does. I reject any brain without that most basic of components.

  On 5/19/2011 at 1:43 AM, Bubba69 said:

yeah, i don't really think this is an AI project, their premise for getting the data mapped out is already ambitious enough.

Exactly, this is not an AI project, just a way to emulate the brain and its cells, that's ambitious enough. There are probably "easier" ways to start developing AIs.

  On 5/19/2011 at 5:11 AM, jules said:

what if it's troon?

then the world truly is doomed.

[insert apocalyptic paranoid statement here]

what if they decide to map out a womans brain? Surely they could get that done by 2014 and have a cool billion still in the bank to spend on other stuff?

wumins so compelciated tho :(

I'm sure someone is already hard at work building this in minecraft.