Giving Robots Brains

Artificial Neural Networks AndThe Future Of AI

- Matthew Flynn

AI technology is already commonplace in modern society, everywhere from Siri and Alexa to chatbots, and beyond—even the spam filter on your email uses artificial intelligence technology. The fact that you don’t notice is the result of something called the AI effect, which explains that once we grow accustomed to certain technology we begin to think of it merely as regular computer programming, not artificial intelligence.

To take the next step in AI technology, researchers are attempting to develop a complex artificial neural network (ANN). Such a network is based on the human brain and ideally will have an imagination, be able to generate original ideas, and learn on its own. The possibilities of such a breakthrough are staggering and there are already some companies putting early stages of the technology to great use.

THE HUMAN BRAIN

To understand ANNs, you first must have a basic understanding of the human brain and our own neural network. Put simply the brain has an estimated 100 billion neurons making up its neural network through which information is processed. All of those neurons in the network communicate with one another by means of electrical signals known as nerve impulses. These impulses are sent across a synapse—a tiny gap between neurons. They’re transmitted across the synapse by axon terminals and received by spindly dendrites, both of which are part of the neuron.