Programming a parallel computer

the ersatz brain project

James A. Anderson

Paul Allopenna

Gerald S. Guralnik

David Sheinberg

John A. Santini

Socrates Dimitriadis

Benjamin B. Machta

Brian T. Merritt

pp. 61-98

in: Włodzisław Duch, Jacek Mańdziuk (eds), Challenges for computational intelligence, Berlin, Springer, 2007

Abstract

There is a complex relationship between the architecture of a computer, the software it needs to run, and the tasks it performs. The most difficult aspect of building a brain-like computer may not be in its construction, but in its use: How can it be programmed? What can it do well? What does it do poorly? In the history of computers, software development has proved far more difficult and far slower than straightforward hardware development. There is no reason to expect a brain like computer to be any different. This chapter speculates about its basic design, provides examples of "programming" and suggests how intermediate level structures could arise in a sparsely connected massively parallel, brain like computer using sparse data representations.