From ScienceAlert, December 15:
Despite the rapid advances in artificial intelligence in recent years, the humble human brain still has the edge over computers in its ability to transfer skills and learn across tasks. A new study reveals how we likely do this.
Led by a team from Princeton University, the researchers behind the new study didn't actually run tests on humans, but instead used animals that are very close to us in terms of biology and brain function: rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).
These monkeys were asked to identify shapes and colors on a screen, and to look in particular directions to give their answers. While this was happening, brain scans were used to check for overlapping patterns and shared areas of activity in the animals' brains.
Related: Computers Made From Human Brain Tissue Are Coming. Are We Prepared?Those scans showed the monkey brains using different blocks of neurons – 'cognitive Legos', in the words of the researchers – across tasks. Existing blocks can be repurposed and recombined across new tasks, showing a neural flexibility that even the best AI models can't compete with.
"State-of-the-art AI models can reach human, or even super-human, performance on individual tasks," says neuroscientist Tim Buschman, from Princeton University. "But they struggle to learn and perform many different tasks."
"We found that the brain is flexible because it can reuse components of cognition in many different tasks. By snapping together these 'cognitive Legos', the brain is able to build new tasks."....
....MUCH MORE
With the caveat that actual "multitasking" decreases performance.
And regarding the "related" article:
September 2018 - Lab Grown Mini-Brains Raise Some Ethical Questions
June 2024 - Another Way To Beat AI's Power Consumption Problem: Brain Organoids
Which also has some outro links:
Previously in organoids and such:
"Lab-Grown Mini Kidneys 'Go Rogue,' Sprout Brain and Muscle Cells"
Getting into a weird area here.
- Ah, the Swiss: "Nestle Finds a Reliable Supply of Brain Cells"
- ICYMI: "Researchers Teach Human Brain Cells in a Dish to Play 'Pong'"
- "Cyborg computer with living brain organoid aces machine learning tests"
The Act of Thinking Can Accelerate Brain Tumor Growth
Yikes. Shut it down, shut it down, Ōm shanti shanti shanti, Ōm.
