One of the biggest challenge or rather an opportunity for Artificial Intelligence researchers and scientists is to understand human brain & create an artificial nervous system that simulates human brain. A recent report published in ACS Nano highlights the claim of a research group that is said to have developed an artificial synapse in lab using electronic components. This artificial synapse is capable of transmitting both inhibitory and stimulatory signals from the same pre-synaptic terminal thereby mimicking the fundamental function of our nervous system.

We know in human body electrical and chemical signals are carried and passed by neurons in the body. Synapses are structures at the junction of neurons that permit them to pass information among one another, and in human nervous system there are as many as 100 trillion synapses present that could both initiate or inhibit transfer of biological messages in the body. Many synapses in body transmit only one type of signal while some transmit both inhibitory and stimulatory signals either simultaneously or they switch between the two.

Image Source - http://www.nowtheendbegins.com

In order to develop Artificial Intelligence system that could mimic human nervous system, many research groups are building in labs the artificial synapse using electronic components. Some research groups have succeeded in making an artificial synapse that could transmit one type of signal but one research group as mentioned above has claimed to have developed a reconfigurable synapse that could switch between both stimulatory and inhibitory signals

It all happens with the help of a synaptic device that is made by this research group. The device is flexible and made up of black phosphorous and tin selenide. As the voltage is applied to the input terminal, the devices switches between stimulatory and inhibitory signals.

Such a device could be very useful in neuromorphic Artificial Intelligence. Neuromorphic Artificial Intelligence is a form of Artificial Intelligence where most of the functionalities are copied from human brain. Already top tech companies like Intel has developed an experimental chip named Loihi based on neuromorphic Artificial Intelligence. In has neurons instead of logic gates inside the chip. Though this chip is not anyway close to the human brain as yet but who knows what neuromorphic Artificial Intelligence has to offer in near future.

By - Mohit Lahori , Asst. Lecturer, CSE, Chitkara University, H.P.

References:-

1. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2017/june/hacking-the-human-brain-lab-made-synapses-for-artificial-intelligence.html
2. https://newsroom.intel.com/editorials/intels-new-self-learning-chip-promises-accelerate-artificial-intelligence/
3. Image 1 Source - https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2017/06/hacking-human-brain-lab-made-synapses-artificial-intelligence