Thread: More powerful than the human brain?

After reading the article linked below I'm wondering just how realistic it would actually be to create a Zetaflop computer. Such a powerful computer would certainly be a powerful tool in science e.g. we could actually map and accurately predict the wheather patterns for the whole planet. Though could we be actually creating a monster? Is there a risk that creating such a powerful computer, indeed a computer more powerful than our own brains, could ever result in it gaining sentience?

Zetaflops | QUANTLABS.NET

The first thing that makes me suspicious is that this super-powerful computer starts at zetaflop border. Is it just a coincidence that it all starts at exact decimal border?

Solely hardware can't make computer think like human. A sophisticated algorithm is needed. It will be some sort of self-educating algorithm, I believe.

Originally Posted by BlasW

The first thing that makes me suspicious is that this super-powerful computer starts at zetaflop border. Is it just a coincidence that it all starts at exact decimal border?

Solely hardware can't make computer think like human. A sophisticated algorithm is needed. It will be some sort of self-educating algorithm, I believe.

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

Originally Posted by Japith

Originally Posted by BlasW

The first thing that makes me suspicious is that this super-powerful computer starts at zetaflop border. Is it just a coincidence that it all starts at exact decimal border?

Solely hardware can't make computer think like human. A sophisticated algorithm is needed. It will be some sort of self-educating algorithm, I believe.

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

That is certainly true, I think it's just a matter of when not if, there seems a certain inevitability about it happening sometime.

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

There are many impossible thing out there. A good example in physics is faster than light travel (and interaction). It is directly linked to the problem of building a fast computer. (Please, do not refer to unproven and theoretical concepts like wormholes etc.)

Originally Posted by BlasW

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

There are many impossible thing out there. A good example in physics is faster than light travel (and interaction). It is directly linked to the problem of building a fast computer. (Please, do not refer to unproven and theoretical concepts like wormholes etc.)

You just know though, at some stage someone will program one to be able to learn by it's self and then before you know it things will get out of hand, how many movies have there been with computers going rogue. I suspect just a matter of time when computers get that powerful.

Originally Posted by BlasW

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

There are many impossible thing out there. A good example in physics is faster than light travel (and interaction). It is directly linked to the problem of building a fast computer. (Please, do not refer to unproven and theoretical concepts like wormholes etc.)

I absolutely agree, most people let their minds linger towards the robot, and not the brain. Absolutely with an algorithm a robot can recognize a old lady and distinguish that she is not a tank, and as well as emotion and lots more even experience reality and operate in reality with more parameters then our human minds currently have.

Originally Posted by Chrisgorlitz

Originally Posted by BlasW

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

There are many impossible thing out there. A good example in physics is faster than light travel (and interaction). It is directly linked to the problem of building a fast computer. (Please, do not refer to unproven and theoretical concepts like wormholes etc.)

You just know though, at some stage someone will program one to be able to learn by it's self and then before you know it things will get out of hand, how many movies have there been with computers going rogue. I suspect just a matter of time when computers get that powerful.

You do realize movies are fiction, right?

Originally Posted by MeteorWayne

Originally Posted by Chrisgorlitz

Originally Posted by BlasW

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

There are many impossible thing out there. A good example in physics is faster than light travel (and interaction). It is directly linked to the problem of building a fast computer. (Please, do not refer to unproven and theoretical concepts like wormholes etc.)

You just know though, at some stage someone will program one to be able to learn by it's self and then before you know it things will get out of hand, how many movies have there been with computers going rogue. I suspect just a matter of time when computers get that powerful.

You do realize movies are fiction, right?

Oh come on Wayne, do you really believe that computers won't get more powerful and that they won't ever go wrong?

Again I think just a matter of time really.

Originally Posted by BlasW

Originally Posted by Japith

Anything is possible, certainly a super powerful zetaflop computer is!

I do not state that a zetaflop computer is impossible. Instead I do state that a key to human-like (or superhuman) intelligence is an algorithm, not hardware.

I ough to disagree. Of course you can virtualize any hw, but that is not the point. The human brain stores information very differently from a computer. While a computer has discrete address spaces storing discrete information, the human brain "overlaps" and "combines" everything. It is reconfiguring the neurons and synapses with every new input. This enables the human to make computationally difficult decisions without even thinking about it. With the current architecture a computer would need magnitudes more of computing power to simulate the brain.

However, that does not mean that building an artifical brain is impossible, quite the contrary. And a powerful artificial brain with the "right mindset" could certainly enslave us all.