Researchers at the University of Michigan are trying to develop a computer that can learn, recognize, and make more complex decisions and perform more tasks at once than conventional computers can.
Computers excel at performing simple operations with limited variables. Brains excel at performing many tasks at once in parallel.
Why the cat as a model? Believe it or not, cats can recognize a face faster, and more efficiently, than today’s supercomputer. Today’s most sophisticated supercomputer –a massive system with more than 140-thousand central processing units– can accomplish certain tasks with functionality on par with a cat, but it still performs 83 times slower than a cat’s brain.
Said one researcher: “We are building a computer in the same way that nature builds a brain.”
Details in the current edition of the journal Nano Letters.
How your kitty is like your computer:
Computer: Hard drive crashes
Kitty: Coughs up hairball
Computer: Porn sites
Computer: Complex math problems
Kitty: Ball of yarn
Computer: New keyboard
Kitty: New scratching post
Kitty: Change litter box
Kitty: Climbs the curtains
Computer: Makes you climb the walls
Computer: Underwater screen saver
Kitty: Can’t stop staring at the fish tank