Abstract

Building machines like us, machines with minds like ours, has been a goal of Artificial Intelligence since its inception. Unfortunately, the greater part of research in traditional AI has ignored work in neuroscience and the philosophy of mind. At the same time, traditional AI systems have generally been brittle, difficult to engineer and, most importantly, have lacked the same nature and essential properties as human cognitive systems. The objectives of this research are: 1) to justify and motivate research in computational neuroscience as an alternative path to understanding and engineering human cognitive systems, 2) to construct a software system for “wiring” and simulating brains at the functional level, and 3) to obtain a better understanding of higher cognitive function based on a study of the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, and current models and theories, of the cerebral neocortex. The thesis embraces a multi-disciplinary approach combining work in the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and computer science. Although preferring to reverse engineer the brain, this work does attempt to balance this analysis with the synthesis of systems and theories. Results include a resolution of the dispute between the classical cognitivists and connectionists about the nature of mind which argues that to build cognitive systems with minds like ours requires they be built at the functional level, a justification for the analysis of the brain to guide the construction of human-like cognitive systems, the construction of a novel software system for “wiring” and simulating cognitive systems at the functional level, a review and analysis of the structure and function of the cerebral neocortex, a review and analysis of models and theories of, and systems inspired by, the cerebral neocortex, the preliminary aspects of a new architecture and learning strategy for the cerebral neocortex, and the construction of a powerful robot and environment simulation system. This thesis has taken initial steps to demonstrate that an appropriate simulation system, theory based on the human brain, and test environment can be constructed, that may indeed make it possible to build cognitive systems with the same nature and essential properties as ours. An alternative AI may succeed.