Making computers more powerful will not make them more intelligent. In the past decades, computers have become ever smaller and more powerful. This development has inspired some researchers to dream of a computer powerful enough to actually think like a human being. However, despite the fact that modern computers have much more raw processing power than the human brain, they are still nowhere near intelligent, i.e., capable of being creative and understanding, and of learning from the world around them.

That’s because computers and our brains are built on fundamentally different principles.

Computers are programmed to do certain tasks, and that’s the extent of their abilities. They never learn anything new, but rather just store information without the ability of using it later to understand new incoming information. The brain, on the other hand, is not limited to pre-programmed tasks, but can understand and learn new things. That’s what makes it intelligent.

I love this video from Jack Ma – founder of AliBaba. He is capturing it very well, the difference between humans and computers/ machines.

Making processors more powerful or adding more memory capacity won’t necessarily help make computers intelligent. Rather, it will only make them faster at calculating – a task computers already perform better than humans. Nevertheless, computers still won’t be able to understand the world and think about the information they store the way humans do. It thus seems that the first step in building a truly intelligent machine will be understanding the workings of the human brain.

Some questions, you might have:

Why have we not been able to build intelligent machines so far?

The human brain is a incredibly complex network of neurons which cannot be emulated by traditional computers, which are not capable of understanding the world around them or learning new things.

How can our brains predict future events based on our past experiences?

All the sensory information your brain receives activates memories throughout the various regions of the brain in a sequence. When you encounter similar sensory information again, your brain recognizes the pattern and remembers what areas were activated the previous times it encountered this pattern, thus it can guess what will happen next.

Can and should we build intelligent machines?

The technological obstacles needed to build neural networks that would emulate to workings of the human neocortex can potentially be overcome in the near future. Such a development would pose no threat to humanity, but would rather bring untold benefits.

DID YOU KNOW?

Artificial intelligence has made a splash in the healthcare industry, with a flurry of hospitals rushing to deploy AI technologies. But the tech’s also littered with potential pitfalls, the consequences of which could have adverse effects on all players in the healthcare system.

In short, AI is susceptible to manipulation and may generate inaccurate diagnoses. Its shortcomings could lead to shady behavior and costly medical errors.  Research analyst Zoë LaRock has the full story.

Thus far, computers are nowhere near as intelligent as humans:

• they can’t emulate the way we think,
• learn or use past knowledge to predict future events.
• To be able to do so, they would need to be built in the form of a neural network, similar to the human neocortex. The technological obstacles to doing so are being overcome.

Here’s a little thought experiment: imagine every computer in your home were several times more intelligent than you. How would you use their abilities? What kind of tasks would you have them perform? How would you spend your days?

The brain is a very special organ, so don’t do anything that might damage it. Therefore never loose the little child inside of you!

It has taken millions of years of evolution for it to become as complex and sophisticated as it is, and you should never forget this. Some people seem to, damaging their brains by, for instance, taking drugs and drinking to excess. This is a tremendous waste of such a sophisticated organ; you should strive to keep your beautiful brain functioning at its highest capacity.  Don’t forget so to get some decent sleep:)

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If you or a family member doesn't sleep well, don't ignore the signs. Sleep disorders generally get worse and can be very debilitating. In my clinic, I see children and parents alike that haven't slept for what they describe as ‘years'. . Everyone displays the signs of poor sleep differently. It can include, brain fog, tiredness, poor attention, teeth grinding, headaches, migraines, anxiety, depression, or digestive disorders. . The reality is that if you don't sleep well, your body isn't going to be able to heal itself. . Sleep deprivation is a form of torture for a reason. It deprives the brain of necessary functions. . During sleep, the brain cleans out the entire body, including itself. Many sleep disorders start mild and then progress. As with most things, we are generally resilient, but lately, I've seen a lot of people who say their body feels like it has ‘had enough'. . The problem is that sleep disorders accumulate their effect on your brain. We now know that studies show that in one night of sleep deprivation, Alzheimer’s plaques begin to build. (You can feel the shocked expression on all the parents face right now). . When we don't sleep, we take our brain through a slow process of torture. But, there is a light on the horizon. . When we understand WHY we don't sleep well and understand how to sleep better, then things become far easier. . In this article, I outline how sleep disorders can vary from insomnia to sleep apnea, all with a similar root cause. . How have you noticed a lousy night's sleep affects you?

A post shared by Steven Lin (@drstevenlin) on Mar 26, 2019 at 12:18pm PDT

I will share some more writings on what you can do with your brains.. let me know if you want to know more!

Love, Marietta