Attempting to Code the Human Brain
Somewhere, in a glass building several miles outside of San Francisco, a computer is imagining what a cow looks like.
Its software is visualizing cows of varying sizes and poses, then drawing crude digital renderings, not from a collection of photographs, but rather from the software's "imagination."
The technology is the work of Vicarious FPC Inc., a quasi-secretive startup backed by early Facebook Inc. FB -1.74% employees and investors that is part of the rapidly expanding world of artificial intelligence. The company is weaving together bits of code inspired by the human brain, aiming to create a machine that can think like humans.
Such powerful software is still several years away from being fully developed, if at all, and raises all sorts of ethical questions. But the potential applications—such as masterfully translating foreign languages, identifying objects in photos and directing self-driving cars through busy intersections—are so compelling that technology giants like Facebook and Google Inc. GOOG -4.03% are investing
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