IBM has just taken a symbolic step in creating a computer capable of thinking like a man.

From man to chat

IBM simulated the brain of a cat at speeds a hundred times slower than reality. The simulation was used to analyze the formation of thoughts in the brain and the interaction of neurons and synapses. To perform this test, IBM showed a picture of their logo and look at how the machine came to recognize what the picture represented. Earlier this year the company had managed to simulate the operation of 1% of the human brain, with 147 456 processors and 144 TB of memory.

One small step for man ...

There is still a long way to go before this technology is actually exploitable, but IBM engineers imagine the day when a machine can process and analyze the incredible flow of information while having the cognitive faculties enabling him to make decisions best adapted to problems of abstract and logical reasoning.

Big Blue is still very far from human brain weighs only a little over a pound, the cortex which contains synapses enough to hold about 1 000 TB of information, equivalent to 23 400 DVDs.