Man Vs Machine

I. Generally Speaking ......

II. Processing Power and Speed
III. Counting the Memory
Performance, Ability and
IV.
Adaptability
V. So who is the Superior ?

Generally Speaking
Many of us think that computers are many many times faster, more powerful and
more capable when compared to our brains simply because they can perform
calculations thousands of time faster, workout logical computations without error and
store memory at incredible speeds with flawless accuracy.
But is the the computer really superior to the human brain in terms of ability ,
processing power and adaptability ?
We now give you the real comparison.

Processing Power and Speed

The human brain - We can only estimate the processing power of the average
human brain as there is no way to measure it quantitatively as of yet. If the theory
of taking nerve volume to be proportional to processing power is true we then, may
have a correct estimate of the human brain's processing power.

It is fortunate that we understand the neural assemblies is the retina of the

vertebrate eye quite well (structurally and functionally) because it helps to give us a
idea of the human brain's capability.

The retina is a nerve tissue in the back of the eyeball which detects lights and sends
images to the brain. A human retina has a size of about a centimeter square is half a
millimeter thick and is made up of 100 million neurons. Scientists say that the
retina sends to the brain, particular patches of images indicating light intensity
differences which are transported via the optic nerve, a million-fiber cable which
reaches deep into the brain.

Overall, the retina seems to process about ten one-million-point images per second.

Because the 1,500 cubic centimeter human brain is about 100,000 times as large as
the retina, by simple calculation, we can estimate the processing power of a
average brain to be about 100 million MIPS (Million computer Instructions Per
Second ). In case you're wondering how much speed that is, let us give you an idea.

1999's fastest PC processor chip on the market was a 700 MHz pentium that did
4200 MIPS. By simple calculation, we can see that we would need at least 24,000 of
these processors in a system to match up to the total speed of the brain !! (Which
means the brain is like a 168,0000 MHz Pentium computer). But even so, other
factors like memory and the complexity of the system needed to handle so many
processors will not be a simple task. Because of these factors, the figures we so
childishly calculated will most probably be a very serious underestimate.

The computer - The most powerful experimental super computers in 1998,

composed of thousands or tens of thousands of the fastest microprocessors and
costing tens of millions of dollars, can do a few million MIPS. These systems were
used mainly to stimulate physical events for high-value scientific calculations.

Here, we have a chart of processor speeds for the past few years.

Year Clock Speed (MHz) Instruction Rate (MIPS)

1992 200 200 (400)
1993.5 300 300 (600)
1995 400 800 (1600)
1996.5 500 1000 (2000)
1998 600 2400 (3600)
1999.5 700 2800 (4200)
2000 1000 ?

From the chart above, we can observe some break through s in microprocessor
speeds. The current techniques used by research labs should be able to continue
such improvements for about a decade. By then maybe prototype multiprocessor
chips finally reaching MIPS matching that of the brain will be cheap enough to
develop.

Improvements of computer speeds however have some limitations. The more

memory it has, the slower it is because it takes longer to run through its memory
once. Computers with less memory hence have more MIPS, but are confined to less
space to run big programs. The latest, greatest super computers can do a trillion
calculations per second and can have a trillion bytes of memory. As computer
memory and processors improve, the Megabyte/MIPS ratio is a big factor to
consider. So far, this ratio has remained constant throughout the history of
computers.

So who has more processing power ?

By estimation, the brain has about 100 million MIPS worth of processing power while
recent super-computers only has a few million MIPS worth in processor speed. That
said, the brain is still the winner in the race. Because of the cost, enthusiasm and
efforts still required, computer technology has still some length to go before it will
match the human brain's processing power.

Counting the Memory

The human brain - So far, we have never heard of anybody's brain being
"overloaded" because it has ran out of memory. (So it seems as if, the human brain
has no limit as to how much memory it can hold. That may not be true)

Our best possible guess of the average human brain's capacity would by calculating
using the number of synapses connecting the neurons in the human brain. Because
each of the synapses have different molecular states, we estimate each of them to
be capable holding one megabyte worth of memory. Since the brain has 100-trillion-
synapses, we can safely say that the average brain can hold about 100 million
megabytes of memory !!!

Remember what we said about the Megabyte/MIPS ratio of a computer ? By

calculation, scientists discovered that the brain's memory/MIPS ratio matches that of
modern computers. The megabyte/MIPS ratio seems to hold for nervous systems
too!

However, we all know that the memory of the brain is not absolute. It does not have
set files or directories that can be deleted, copied or archived like those of a
computer. For example, a particular person who thought he had memorized a
telephone number for good suddenly realizes he can't recall the number. But some
half-a-day later, he may suddenly recall the number again.) It is a strange
phenomenal that we still can't really explain. A simple thoery is that the brain treats
parts and peices of these ignored memories like a unactive "archives" sections until
they are required. Memory spans of parts of the brain seem to depend on how often
they are used. Even so, there is no such thing as deletion of data in a brain.

The computer - Computers have more than one form of memory. We can generally
classify them into primary and secondary memory. Primary memory is used as a
form of temporary memory for calculation processes and storage of temporary
values that need rapid access or updating, the contents of the primary memory
disappear when the power is turned off. Primary memory is important when
executing programs, bigger programs require more primary memory. ( RAM(random
access memory), Caches & buffers are just a few examples of primary memory)

Secondary memory often comes in the form of hard disks, removable disk drives and
tape drives. Secondary memory is used for the storage of most of a system's data,
programs and all other permanent data that should stay there even when the power
is turned off. As a computer is fed with bigger, smarter programs and more data, it
would naturally need more secondary memory to hold them.

The latest, greatest super computers (as of 1998) have a million megabytes of
memory. Today's latest model of hard disk drives on the personal computer market
(in early 2000) can hold about 40,000 megabytes

Performance, Ability and Adaptability

Performance and Ability - So, even though we have proved it to you that the brain
is far more superior to today's best computers, many of us out there wouldn't believe
it. Why ? Because of the differences in performance. We can obviously see that any
low-end computer can beat the fastest human at calculation as well as storing and
processing of any information. Here's what we have to say.

Although the brain has got more ability, it has got more tasks to perform than that
expected of a computer. Did you realize that the brain is has to constantly take
charge of maintaining the human body functions for the entire lifetime its host ?
Actions like breathing, blinking, coordination of all the body parts are controlled
subconsciously by the brain all the time.
At the same time, the brain is constantly bombarded by all your senses all at once.
In one mere second, the retina sends ten one-million-point images to the brain. At
the same time, your ear drums pass sound information real-time at higher-than-CD-
quality. And don't forget the information send to the brain by your sense of touch
and smell. If a normal higher-end computer was fed with the information from a
human's senses constantly and asked to process and react to them, the computer
would overload from too much information because it can't react as fast as the brain
could.

There are many reason why the brain loses out to computers in simple and
straightforward jobs (esp. computational and recording jobs). The brain is made for
general purposes, not specifically just for computational jobs. In theory, the brain
could be as quick as a computer in computational and recording jobs but in real life,
it will never be possible because the average human is constantly distracted by his
overwhelming senses, his emotions and his own thoughts. There are exceptional
people who could read through a 500 page book in less than an hour and remember
all the contents as well as people who could perform mathematical calculations at a
snap of their fingers but they are only rare examples that prove the hidden potential
of the human brain.

Adaptability and Learning

The brain - Because the human brain receives so much information from all the
senses at a constant rate, it is only natural that it would tend to learn and adapt very
quickly about its environment and surroundings. In fact, a glance of any of the
senses at the surroundings would already provide the brain with enough information
about the environment to allow the brain to react immediately with a response.

Many of us think that it may seem natural that the human brain is better at non
assisted learning and acquiring of new skills when compared to a computer.The
human brain is able to learn by trail and error, induce conclusions from past
experience and create new methods to deal with the situations it has come across.

However, when learning a new skill or quitting a old habit, the human brain requires
time to adapt to the behaviours required. When a person does a particular task
repeatedly for a number of times, he would realize that the more times he does it,
the easier it is for him to do the same task. When continued over longer periods of
time, it becomes so easy for the person that he does it sub-consiously, hence, it
becomes a habit. Even quitting of habits need adapting to, because the habits are
now part of the brain's sub consiousness and the brain performs it even without
instruction from the consiousness.

Remember that we told you that the memory of a brain seems unabsolute ? That
could also be a reason behind the need for adaption during learning. To be given a
permanent place in the sub-consious mind, knowledge of the skills are to be
translated into relevant instructions for the various parts of the mind so as to perfect
the various requirements of the new skill. The hand-eye coordination, finger control
or the sense of timing required for the new skill are aquired mostly through trial and
error, hence explaining the need for adaption.

The computer - Computers are getting smarter by the day. Computer programs at
research labs are constantly learning anything that the programmers are feeding
them with. Voice reconigtion engines are developed but feeding the program with
thousands of different voices from entire towns so that it could pick up patterns in
speech, accents and slangs and learn to reconigse them. OCR (optical character
recogition) programs are picking up new tips and patterns as it observes the
different styles of writings from its ever increasing database. Smarter programs are
now able to classify pictures of objects it never saw before into different catogories in
real-time by studying their shapes and textures or by observing similair patterns in
the picture's coding.

The rate of learning computers using smart programs have a big advantage, that is
they can share their data between different computers. Data and results achieved
first by other computers by trial and error or by observation of patterns can be
copied directly to other computers, hence increasing their rate of learning.

Since the memory of computers are absolute (either recorded or deleted) ,

computers need no adapting when they are loaded with traditional programs and are
asked to run them. However, some smart programs are capable of learning by trial &
error, learning from their mistakes and recording the best solutions to any problems
it faces. (an example is the household robot, Cye (created by Henry Thorne) which
would memorise the way around a new house without anyhelp simply by trial and
error ; banging into walls and barriers and drawing a map of the landmarks it has
banged into)

Computer learning techniques seem to have taken the right pushes at the right
areas, especially the step towards learning to learn by using of the two most
important senses, sight and sound. It would not be a overstatement to say that
computers would in a decade's time be able to learn simply from observation and
examples; In the future, we can expect simplier yet smarter programs.

So who is the Superior ?

The brain is still the overall winner in many fields when it comes to numbers.
However, because of its other commitments, the brain is less efficient when a person
tries to use it for one specific function. The brain is as we can put it, a general
purpose processor when compared to the computer. It therefore loses out when it
comes to efficiency and performance. We have given the estimate for total human
performance at 100 million MIPS, but the level of efficiency for which this can be
applied to any task may only be a small fraction of the total. (this fraction depends
on the adaptibilty of the brain to the task)

Deep Blue, the chess machine that bested world chess champion Garry Kasparov in
1997, used specialized chips to process chess moves at a the speed equivalent to a 3
million MIPS universal computer. This is 1/30 of the estimate for total human
performance. Since it is plausible that Kasparov, probably the best human player
ever, can apply his brain power to the strange problems of chess with an efficiency
of 1/30, Deep Blue's near parity with Kasparov's chess skill supports the theory of
the level of efficiency of total performance. ( Garry Kasparov beat Deep Blue with a
very close, 2 -1 )