The idea of backing up someone's brain into a computer is a sci-fi trope as old as computers themselves. Since the 1980s, neuromorphic engineering has planned to backup or mimic the brain via computers. Four decades later, Samsung may have cracked the code.
Samsung's plans to Copy and Paste the brain
Samsung engineers have teamed up with Harvard University engineers to explore the possibility of reverse engineering the human brain. Explained in Samsung's press release, the company wants to “copy and paste” the brain onto computer chips.
The tech company explains that they could recreate a brain’s neural map onto 3D-stacked neuromorphic chips. By using a “nanoelectrode array” the company could record neuron connections and paste it onto SSD memory.
Of course, the human brain is incredibly complex. With an estimated 100 billion neurons and countless amounts of synapses to link them, Samsung's chips would need to store massive amounts of data. At the time of writing, the company estimates they'll need around 100 trillion memory units to successfully store a brain.
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The future of AI
Samsung's “highly ambitious” brain-chip concept does have a use case. As training AI programs becomes incredibly resource intensive, the company hopes that copying real breaks can help in researching AI.
The tech company has announced that it will continue researching this theory and neuromorphic engineering. Additionally, this research will further the company's work in the field of next-gen AI semiconductors.
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