The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine

The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine

Programming Intelligence

That’s the prediction for processing power, which is a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving human-level intelligence in machines. Of greater importance is the software of intelligence.       One approach to creating this software is to painstakingly program the rules of complex processes. Another approach is “complexity theory” (also known as chaos theory) computing, in which self-organizing algorithms gradually learn patterns of information in a manner analogous to human learning. One such method, neural nets, is based on simplified mathematical models of mammalian neurons. Another method, called genetic (or evolutionary) algorithms, is based on allowing intelligent solutions to develop gradually in a simulated process of evolution.

Multiple Choice

What's 'algorithm'?

• A division of math

• A Process

• a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.

Ultimately, however, we will learn to program intelligence by copying the best intelligent entity we can get our hands on: the human brain itself. We will reverse-engineer the human brain, and fortunately for us it’s not even copyrighted!

Multiple Choice

According to the writer, in order to program software to to think like humans we should model it after?

• The most intelligent machine

• The intelligent entity we have the human brain

• The most intelligent mamals

Open Ended

What's reverse reverse-engineer the human brain?

 The most immediate way to reach this goal is by destructive scanning: take a brain frozen just before it was about to expire and examine one very thin slice at a time to reveal every neuron, interneuronal connection and concentration of neurotransmitters across each gap between neurons (these gaps are called synapses). One condemned killer has already allowed his brain and body to be scanned, and all 15 billion bytes of him can be accessed on the National Library of Medicine’s Web site. The resolution of these scans is not nearly high enough for our purposes, but the data at least enable us to start thinking about these issues.

 We also have noninvasive scanning techniques, including high- resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and others. Recent scanning methods can image individual interneuronal connections in a living brain and show them firing in real time. The increasing resolution and speed of these techniques will eventually enable us to resolve the connections among neurons. The rapid improvement is again a result of the Law of Accelerating Returns, because massive computation is the main element in higher-resolution imaging.

Another approach would be to send microscopic robots (or “nanobots”) into the bloodstream and program them to explore every capillary, monitoring the brain’s connections and neurotransmitter concentrations

Open Ended

What do all these processes have in common?

Open Ended

Look up these words:

•Sufficient

•Painstakingly

•Neuron

•Condemned

•Noninvasive

Fantastic Voyage

Although sophisticated robots that small are still a couple of decades away at least, their utility for probing the innermost recesses of our bodies would be far-reaching. They would communicate wirelessly with one another and report their findings to other computers. The result would be a noninvasive scan of the brain taken from within.

Most of the technologies required for this scenario already exist, though not in the microscopic size required. Miniaturizing them to the tiny sizes needed, however, would reflect the essence of the Law of Accelerating Returns. For example, the transistors on an integrated circuit have been shrinking by a factor of approximately five in each linear dimension every 10 years.

Multiple Choice

Kurzweil’s subheading on alludes to the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage. In it, an attempted assassination leaves a scientist with a life-threatening blood clot. To save him, a special submarine with a crew is shrunk down to microscopic size to destroy the clot and save his life. What is the relevance of this allusion?

• People might know and movie and want to watch it again

• Kurzweil is introducing the subject of nanobots, which can explore the human body, like the fictional submarine.)

• The movie predicts the future of submarines

Multiple Choice

" The capabilities of these embedded nanobots would not be limited to passive roles such as monitoring. Eventually they could be built to communicate directly with the neuronal circuits in our brains, enhancing or extending our mental capabilities. We already have electronic devices that can communicate with neurons by detecting their activity and either triggering nearby neurons to fire or suppressing them from firing. The embedded nanobots will be capable of reprogramming neural connections to provide virtual- reality experiences and to enhance our pattern recognition and other cognitive faculties." What's the tone of the passage?

• enthusiastic, and his vision of the future seems entirely positive.

• Cautious

• Alarming

  Perhaps more interesting than this scanning-the-brain-to- understand-it approach would be scanning the brain for the purpose of downloading it. We would map the locations, interconnections and contents of all the neurons, synapses and neurotransmitter concentrations. The entire organization, including the brain’s memory, would then be re-created on a digital-analog computer. To do this, we would need to understand local brain processes, and progress is already under way. Theodore W. Berger and his co- workers at the University of Southern California have built integrated circuits that precisely match the processing characteristics of substantial clusters of neurons. Carver A. Mead and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology have built a variety of integrated circuits that emulate the digital-analog characteristics of mammalian neural circuits. There are simulations of the visual-processing regions of the brain, as well as the cerebellum, the region responsible for skill formation.

 Developing complete maps of the human brain is not as daunting as it may sound. The Human Genome Project seemed impractical when it was first proposed. At the rate at which it was possible to scan genetic codes 20 years ago, it would have taken thousands of years to complete the genome. But in accordance with the Law of Accelerating Returns, the ability to sequence DNA has doubled every year, and the project was completed on time in 2003.       By the third decade of this century, we will be in a position to create complete, detailed maps of the computationally relevant features of the human brain and to re-create these designs in advanced neural computers. We will provide a variety of bodies for our machines, too, from virtual bodies in virtual reality to bodies comprising swarms of nanobots, as well as humanoid robots.

Multiple Select

What approach does Kurzweil take to convince us that 'downloading the brain' is possible?

• He alludes to Fantastic Voyage movie

• He cites scientists who are already working on this mission

• He cites that The Human Genome Project seemed impossible but now it's done

Open Ended

What do you think of this prediction "By the third decade of this century, we will be in a position to create complete, detailed maps of the computationally relevant features of the human brain and to re-create these designs in advanced neural computers. We will provide a variety of bodies for our machines, too, from virtual bodies in virtual reality to bodies comprising swarms of nanobots, as well as humanoid robots."

Multiple Choice

The author's purpose in "The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine" is...

• To entertain us about the advances in tech

• To inform us of the benefits of tech

• To persuade us to believe in tech takeover

• To inspire us to buy a robot

Multiple Choice

This is the sentence structure in "The Merging of Mind and Machine"

• Archaic

• technical

• Vivid imagery

Multiple Choice

According to the author of "...Mind and Machine", computer will...

• become slower due to lack of resources

• become smarter than people

• become as smart as people

• become obsolete

Multiple Choice

Which word best describes the author’s overall tone in this selection?

• speculative

• argumentative

• confident

• conciliatory

Multiple Choice

The basic principle of the Law of Accelerating Returns is that

• he basic principle of the Law of Accelerating Returns is that

• each advance, both in product and in process, increases the rate of progress.

• chaos in the environment affects the rate of progress in unpredictable ways.

• he rate of progress in computer technology is faster than in other areas.

Multiple Choice

An extrapolation based on last year’s expenses would

• explain annual expenses.

• educe ongoing expenses.

• pay for present expenses

• predict future expenses

Multiple Choice

A ubiquitous cartoon character would be

• loud and obnoxious

• seen everywhere

• hysterically funny.

• drawn in a unique style

Multiple Choice

Succession means

• range.

• series

• triumph.

• withdrawal.

Multiple Choice

A ubiquitous cartoon character would be

• loud and obnoxious

• seen everywhere

• hysterically funny.

• drawn in a unique style