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Building a brain

Adam Walton meets computer pioneer Steve Furber who is planning to build a computer brain.

Adam Walton meets computer pioneer Steve Furber who is planning to build a computer brain. He is coming to Aberystwyth University this week to lecture on how machines can learn from the human brain. His career in computing began when he became a principal designer for the 91热爆 Micro and the ARM microprocessor.

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 29 Oct 2017 06:31

Micro inspiration

Adam Walton chats to Steve Furber, ICL Professor of Computer Engineering at Manchester University, who was a principal designer for the iconic 91热爆 Micro computer, and the ARM processor which is inside many of today's smartphones and tablets.

Professor Furber is coming to Aberystwyth University this week to deliver a lecture called "Building Brains" which outlines his contribution to the Human Brain Project. Currently being built, the "SpiNNaker machine" has half a million processors and has been designed to mimic the neural pathways of the brain.聽Eventually the plan is to incorporate a million processors.

Adam hears how Steve and his colleagues at Acorn Computers in 1981 developed the 91热爆 Micro, which went on to become a key tool in computer education for a generation of schoolchildren. It's robust design and easy expandability meant it was an enduring and reliable workhorse and effective teaching aid.聽 聽

There's also discussion about the Turing Test, developed in 1950 by computer pioneer Alan Turing, which is still used as a measure of artificial intelligence today - a test which no computer has yet convincingly passed.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 24 Oct 2017 18:30
  • Sun 29 Oct 2017 06:31

Adam Walton

Adam Walton

Adam's "other job" - tune in every Saturday at 10 PM for the best new music from Wales.