Auteur: a3veen

Mind uploading / whole brain emulation (WBE), is the hypothetical futuristic process of scanning a physical structure of the brain accurately enough to create an emulation of the mental state (including long-term memory and “self”) and copying it to a computer in a digital form. The computer would then run a simulation of the brain’s information processing, such that it would respond in essentially the same way as the original brain and experience having a sentient conscious mind.

Index:

Introduction
Hersenen, wat te kopieren?
To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language
Artificial intelligence / Mind uploading – afspeellijst
Artificial intelligence / Kunstmatige intelligentie
Neuroplasticity
Brain–computer interface

Links

Introduction:
Substantial mainstream research in related areas is being conducted in animal brain mapping and simulation, development of faster supercomputers, virtual reality, brain–computer interfaces, connectomics, and information extraction from dynamically functioning brains. According to supporters, many of the tools and ideas needed to achieve mind uploading already exist or are currently under active development; however, they will admit that others are, as yet, very speculative, but say they are still in the realm of engineering possibility.

Mind uploading may potentially be accomplished by either of two methods: Copy-and-upload or copy-and-delete by gradual replacement of neurons (which can be considered as a gradual destructive uploading), until the original organic brain no longer exists and a computer program emulating the brain takes control over the body. In the case of the former method, mind uploading would be achieved by scanning and mapping the salient features of a biological brain, and then by storing and copying, that information state into a computer system or another computational device. The biological brain may not survive the copying process or may be deliberately destroyed during it in some variants of uploading. The simulated mind could be within a virtual reality or simulated world, supported by an anatomic 3D body simulation model. Alternatively the simulated mind could reside in a computer inside (or either connected to or remotely controlled) a (not necessarily humanoid) robot or a biological or cybernetic body.

Among some futurists and within the part of transhumanist movement, mind uploading is treated as an important proposed life extension technology. Some believe mind uploading is humanity’s current best option for preserving the identity of the species, as opposed to cryonics. Another aim of mind uploading is to provide a permanent backup to our “mind-file”, to enable interstellar space travels, and a means for human culture to survive a global disaster by making a functional copy of a human society in a computing device.

Whole brain emulation is discussed by some futurists as a “logical endpoint” of the topical computational neuroscience and neuroinformatics fields, both about brain simulation for medical research purposes. It is discussed in artificial intelligence research publications as an approach to strong AI (Artificial general intelligence) and to at least weak superintelligence. Another approach is seed AI, which wouldn’t be based on existing brains. Computer-based intelligence such as an upload could think much faster than a biological human even if it were no more intelligent. A large-scale society of uploads might, according to futurists, give rise to a technological singularity, meaning a sudden time constant decrease in the exponential development of technology. Mind uploading is a central conceptual feature of numerous science fiction novels, films, and games.

Hersenen, wat te kopieren?:

To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language:

Artificial intelligence / Mind uploading – afspeellijst:

Neuroplasticity:

Brain–computer interface:

A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication link between the brain’s electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic limb. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions. They are often conceptualized as a human–machine interface that skips the intermediary of moving body parts (hands…), although they also raise the possibility of erasing the distinction between brain and machine. BCI implementations range from non-invasive (EEG, MEG, MRI) and partially invasive (ECoG and endovascular) to invasive (microelectrode array), based on how physically close electrodes are to brain tissue.

Research on BCIs began in the 1970s by Jacques Vidal at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation, followed by a contract from DARPA. Vidal’s 1973 paper introduced the expression brain–computer interface into scientific literature. Due to the cortical plasticity of the brain, signals from implanted prostheses can, after adaptation, be handled by the brain like natural sensor or effector channels. Following years of animal experimentation, the first neuroprosthetic devices were implanted in humans in the mid-1990s. Studies (1 / 2 / 3) in human-computer interaction via the application of machine learning to statistical temporal features extracted from the frontal lobe (EEG brainwave) data has achieved success in classifying mental states (relaxed, neutral, concentrating), mental emotional states (negative, neutral, positive), and thalamocortical dysrhythmia.

Links:
AI en de hersenziekten technologie van de toekomst: ‘Je krijgt een stukje vrijheid terug’

Europese AI-wet van kracht / Artificial Intelligence Act / AI Act Day 2024

Using artificial intelligence to document the hidden RNA virosphere – publicatie

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit 2025

Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics – publication

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – ECOSOC Special Meeting (TV UN)

IT Artificial Intelligence