IBM Introduces Researchers To Their Artificial Rodent Brain

Neuromorphic Computing  

After years of development, IBM has unveiled their neuromorphic computing system to the public.  They claim the system, based on the TrueNorth processor is computationally equivalent to the brain of a small rodent.

A team at IBM, led by Dharmendra Modha has been working with DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) program since 2008 to develop neuromorphic computing systems that work more like brains than traditional Turing machines.

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Now, after years of development, the company has unveiled the system to the public as part of a three-week "boot camp" training session for academic and government researchers.

The TrueNorth system, uses modular chips that act like artificial neurons. By stringing multiple chips together researchers can essentially build an artificial neural network. The version that IBM just debuted contains about 48 million connections—which is roughly equivalent to the computing capacity of a rat's brain.

These systems ideal for operating deep learning algorithms—the computational artificial intelligence development behind the explosion of image recognition, speech recognition, and many other advances.

Neuromorphic systems also have the benefit of modelling their power requirements on biological brains, using a fraction of electrical needs and space used by typical computers. For example, a TrueNorth chip contains 5.4 billion transistors but only uses 70 mw of power. An Intel processor, conversely contains just 1.4 billion transistors and draws between 35 and 140 watts.

According to Wired's Cade Metz, researchers who got their hands on the chip at an engineering workshop in Colorado the previous month have already developed software that can identify images, recognize spoken words, and understand natural language. Basically, they’re using the chip to run “deep learning” algorithms.

"Humans use technology to transform society. These are the humans."

The promise is that IBM’s chip can run these algorithms in smaller spaces with considerably less electrical power, letting us shoehorn more AI onto phones and other tiny devices, including hearing aids and, well, wristwatches.

Future versions of the TrueNorth system could, in theory, be miniaturized so they are small enough to fit inside cell phones or smart watches.

TrueNorth is definately not a digital brain, but it may be a step toward a digital brain. IBM, is accelerating the project as they demonstrated with a recent three week boot camp, for potential neuromorphic algorithm developers.

The machine they encountered is really 48 separate machines, each built around its own TrueNorth processors.  IBM intends to divide up the processors to the researchers so they can bring them back to their own labs, which span over 30 institutions on five continents. “Humans use technology to transform society,” Modha says, pointing to the room of researchers. “These are the humans.”

SOURCE  Wired

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