The human brain in machine form: a matter of when, not if

How close are scientists to recreating the human brain? What happens when machines become as intelligent, or more intelligent than humans? 

Pascal Kaufmann, founder of the Swiss AI firm Starmind, shared his thoughts on those questions at an event hosted by Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology ETH on the fringes of WEF Davos.

Mankind has made a mess of the planet and needs artificial intelligence to survive in the future, he argues. And he thinks the holy grail of unlocking the fundamental secrets of the human brain could be achieved in our lifetime. To this end, the Mindfire InitiativeExternal link aims to gather the best talent in Switzerland to crack this code.

“I think it would be awesome if we could somehow harness the talent we have in Switzerland to create a breakthrough,” he says.

“Unite the talents in the world, invite them to Davos, put them in a Swiss chalet and let them crack the brain code.”
 
Once the code is cracked, the world needs to have systems already in place to stop powerful countries and companies from stealing this technology and using it for anti-social ends. AI can only benefit humanity if it belongs to everyone, says the Swiss neuroscientist and entrepreneur.