I'm having a hard time deciding if this is cool or scares me a little.

In the first article it is shown that we have actually developed living 'test tube' brains. While I find it cool that this could help a lot in the development of brain related illnesses treatments, I also see where it could be used in a bad way.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/researche ... 2179861831

In this article is discussed the development of a 'brain on a chip' where artificial synapses are used to make decisions. A working model is apparently 95% accurate at hand writing recognition. The potential is that the computing power of a super computer could be put on a chip the size of a finger nail. Again, very cool but, somewhat, worrisome.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/artificia ... o-reality/

In both cases are we going too far considering our apparent lack of wisdom as a species? What worries me is the thought of what either technology could mean in warfare. I picture a weapon with the computing ability of a brain but without conscience. In a way I say this in a 'tongue in cheek' manner but one of the first things that came to my mind was the movie Matrix.

Don't take this as though I'm freaking out over any of this as I'm not. It just worries me a bit when technology shows up that very well may surpass the maturity of our global societies.

_________________

I don't see it as a "brain" being grown in a test tube. As I read it, they are brain cells that are growing from stem cells. I would think that it is a really, really long way from being a brain -- be that human or even an insect or animal. There is, of course, the concern that the experimentation could run awry and this tissue somehow becomes sentient, but that seems to me to be a leap that would be monumental to achieve.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Actually I am more concerned about the analog chip using silicon germanium as an artificial Synapses system. Right now I run a system that is pretty strong with 16 streams. It is thought that the potential of these "brain on a chip" systems could process millions of streams on a chip the size of a finger nail.

Not really sure exactly where I'm coming from but I just find both cases a bit worrisome...

_________________

Yes, I see that concern about increased processing power...

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

LOL! I'm not against advances in technology in any way. I'm just worried as to how it will be used. I can't exactly say what worries me but I wonder if we, as a society, are ready for such a drastic leap. This is like going from a flintlock musket to an assault rifle. Today the most threads available on a CPU is the AMD Ryzen with 64 threads. With the "brain on a chip" we are talking, potentially, millions of threads.

_________________