Transcript Obama`s BRAIN Initiative, Opportunities, and Resistence from the

Obama’s Brain Initiative,
Opportunities, and
Resistance from the Status Quo
Juyang (John) Weng
Computer Sci., Neurosci., Cognitive Sci.
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 49924 USA
[email protected]
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Brain Initiatives
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4/2/2013 Obama announced his brain
initiative
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To get a dynamic picture of the brain
To better understand how we think, learn and
remember
$100M/year plus $94M/year from private partners
EU has announced the Human Brain Project
China is preparing its own brain project
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What is Required for the BRAIN Project?
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Foremost: address the
group intelligence problem
It is not that humans do not have sufficient
information about how the brain works
Enough information is out there in the vast
literature
Individual humans are “blinded” by the lack
of group intelligence in the human race
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Group
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Group: Multiple agents that interact closely
Natural group:
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Artificial group:
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A group of developmental robots that use brainlike emergent representations
Mixed group:
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A company, a nation, humans on the earth
With natural and artificial agents
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Group Development: Developed Countries
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It is easier for a developed country (e.g., USA)
to:
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Form allies based on superficial friendliness
React in a short-sighted way
Disregard development as a science
It is also harder for a developed country (e.g.,
USA) to see a deeper causality:
Group developmental program
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Group Development: Developing Countries
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It is easier for a developing country to see:
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Scientific knowledge
Advanced technology
Wealth
Weapons
It is harder for a developing country to see a
deeper causality:
Group developmental program
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The US President and BRAIN
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Obama :
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“This is a Nation of dreamers and risk-takers.”
“We do not just track the best scientists and
entrepreneurs”
“We have not unlocked the mystery of 3 pounds of
matter that sits between our ears”
“Better understand how we think, how we learn, and
how we remember.”
“Presumably our life would be simpler here if it would
explain everything going on in Washington. (laughs)”
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The BRAIN Initiative’s Danger:
More Data, More Local Theories
Little Global Theory
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A Mind is a Bag of Tricks?
(Artificial) neural networks are
analogical and scruffy.
- Marvin Minsky
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The Brain is Not a
Cascade of Areas!
Felleman &Van Essen 1991
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Brain-Mind: A Grand Puzzle
Functions
Multi-Scale nature
Experience
Brain
Pathways
Cortex
Circuits
Neurons
Genome
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Analogy: Power of Newton’s Theory
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Newton used them to explain
and investigate the motion of
many physical objects and
systems.
For example,
Newton showed that these
laws of motion, combined with
his law of universal
gravitation, explained Kepler's
laws of planetary motion.
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Brain-Mind Institute:
meant to serve you
and
to avoid the danger
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Brain-Mind Institute
BMI 831
Cognitive Science
for Brain-Mind
Research
Instructor 2013:
Juyang Weng
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The material is
very rich and
interesting …
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BMI 871
Introduction to
Computational
Brain-Mind
Instructor 2013:
Juyang Weng
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The Book Tells You …
How a
Brain-Mind Works
in Principle
(and Experiments)
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The Book Shows …
The Entire
Developmental
Algorithm is about
2-Page Long
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How? For any FA there is a DN
Marvin Minsky at MIT criticized ANNs
FA: Finite Automaton
DN: Developmental Network
(Earlier called ED Network)
Weng IJCNN 2010
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Resistance to Understanding the Brain
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From government branches
From neuroscience
From cognitive science or psychology
From computer science
From electrical engineering
From mathematics
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From Government Branches
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“If you do something small, I would fund it.”
“People do not like that you do everything (your
work would tell how everything works in the brain
schematically).”
Thus, only piece meal, incremental projects have
been funded.
But, focused developmental brain modeling and
simulation proposals have been wrongly accused
“to do everything”.
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From Neuroscience
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“I am only interested in brain areas A and
B”
The brain is incorrectly considered as a
homunculus body that consists of many
“organs”
“Thus, each organ is sufficient to be
focused on to find its roles.”
Thus, data rich, theory poor
However, our brain-scale theory predicts
that there is no brain area whose role can
be explained individually!
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From Cognitive Science
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Traditionally, focused on
subject behaviors
Traditionally, focused on
a specific hypothesis
“How the brain works?
Not my problem”
Incorrectly assumed that
area A does x and y.
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From Computer Science
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Misled early on by the Turing Test
Misled by Von Neumann computers
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE should be
predominantly "ARTIFICIAL" -- it need
not compute by simulating the human
mind.
“If the R&N text is inadequate, then the
new Weng book will be even more
limiting”
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From Electrical Engineering
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Mature theories for linear
systems
Immature theories for
nonlinear system
Lack of knowledge in artificial
intelligence methods
But, the brain is a generalpurpose nonlinear system that
self-programs
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From Mathematics
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Typically, mathematicians
are satisfied with proving an
open theorem
Importance? Well, let the
future sort it out
But the brain is a
mathematical problem!
The new brain math will
solve many well-known
practical math problems
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Great opportunities
for all of you!
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