DeepMind just published a new paper [cached]Neural Turing Machines with some very interesting implications. For the ones pertaining to AI just read the paper; here I want to focus on what it means for the human brain.
The main achievement of the NTM paper is coupling a neural network to external traditional computer memory, implementing both content and address based access. This implies something similar could potential work with the human brain.
There's already precedent for [cached]implanting electrodes and using them for control. The big open question here is the training - for NTM this was achieved by gradient descent, but it is not clear if a similar process would automatically take place in an adult brain. However, the brain seems to be exceedingly plastic, even being able to [cached]learn to see from electrical stimulation of the tongue.
Successful implementation would give us working memory of almost unlimited size, and if combined with our normal memory might be extended into a system for photographic memory.
Tags: ai