AI computer chips that can SMELL explosives could transform airport security
AI computer chips made of mice neurons that can SMELL
explosives could transform airport security
Device could be implanted into the brain of robots to
recognise odours
The Koniku Kore device is a 'world first' that is able to
breath in and smell air
It could detect volatile chemicals and explosives or even
illnesses like cancer
By AFP and PHOEBE WESTON FOR MAILONLINE UPDATED: 09:32
EDT, 28 August 2017
A technology expert has created a computer chip based on
mice neurons that could recognise the smell of explosives.
The device could be implanted into the brain of future
robots, which could be trained to recognise danger via odours, replacing
traditional airport security.
The Koniku Kore device is a 'world first' that is able to
breath in and smell air, meaning it could detect volatile chemicals and
explosives or even illnesses such as cancer.
THE KONIKU KORE
Named the Koniku Kore, the modem-sized device could
provide the brain for future robots.
Instead of being based on silicon, the Koniku Kore is built
using mice neurons.
Each chips a bizarre mixture of living neurons and
silicon.
The device have sensors that can detect and recognise
smells.
While computers are better than humans at complex
mathematical equations, the brain is better at a number of cognitive functions
such as smelling.
The researchers behind the device say it could one day be
placed discreetly in airports to sniff out explosives.
This means in the future passengers could skip tedious
airport security lines, while the special device sniffs out explosives silently
in the background.
While those in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
are working furiously to create machines that can mimic the brain, or - like
tech entrepreneur Elon Musk - implant computers in our brains, one researcher
has found a way to merge lab-grown neurons with electronic circuitry.
Nigerian neuroscientist Oshiorenoya Agabi says his
supercomputer - the pictures of which cannot yet be publicly revealed - could
simulate the power of 204 brain neurons.
As many grapple with the finite processing power of
silicon, the 38-year-old said he had looked to the brain which is 'the most
powerful processor the universe has ever seen.
'Instead of copying a neuron, why not just take the
biological cell itself and use it as it is? That thought is radical. The
consequence of this is mind-boggling,' he said.
So he and a team of geneticists, physicists,
bio-engineers, molecular biologists and others set about doing just that,
focusing on the problems that were particularly hard for silicon devices to
solve.
The device was developed by his Silicon Valley-based
start-up Koniku and unveiled at the TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania on Sunday.
He said 'major brands', including those in the travel
industry, had signed up and the start-up's current revenues of $8 million (£6.2
million) were expected to leap to $30 million (£23 million) by 2018.
One of the main challenges was finding a way to keep the
neurons alive, a secret Mr Agabi did not wish to expand on, saying only they
could be kept alive for two years in a lab environment and two months in the
device.
As AI improves in leaps and bounds, scientists are trying
to make and succeeding in making machines more like our brains, able to learn
and understand their surroundings: a prospect that is terrifying for many.
Musk, who has repeatedly warned about the perils of AI
making humans obsolete, is working on a new project to implant 'neural lace'
brain-interface technology to prevent humans becoming like a 'house cat' to
potential machine masters.
However, Mr Agabi, who grew up in Lagos where he helped
his mother sell food on the streets, believes the future of AI lies in making
machines more alive.
He believes his company could build a cognitive humanoid
system based on synthetic living neurons in the next five to seven years.
'It's not science fiction,' he told AFP.
'We want to build a brain of biological neurons - an
autonomous system that has intelligence. We do not want to build a human
brain.'
Mr Agabi did a bachelors degree in theoretical physics in
Lagos before taking an interest in neuroscience and bio-engineering for his PhD
in London.
He spoke at the opening session of the four-day TEDGlobal
conference, putting African ideas, innovation and creativity in the spotlight
with a variety of speakers who each get an 18-minute window to get across their
message of choice.
TED - originally known as Technology, Entertainment and
Design - has built a global following for its online videos of inspiring talks
devoted to 'ideas worth spreading.'
The annual international version is taking place in
Africa for the first time in a decade with a new crop of 'TED Fellows' from the
continent to take to the stage.
'This gathering couldn't come a moment too soon,' said
TEDGlobal co-curator Emeka Okafor.
'Africa has experienced spectacular economic, demographic
and creative growth, but both opportunity and danger are rising at an
exponential rate. Our conference will gather the idea catalysts,
problem-solvers and change-makers already hard at work here charting Africa's
own path to modernity.'
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