7. Reverse-engineer the human brain – recent advances in computers like Watson are impressive but even Watson is not really that smart. Watson cannot do many of the things a human toddler can do: solve problems s(he) has never encountered before, for example, or tell you what he or she is doing at the moment. It is shocking to sit down with top scientists in the world and hear that they have no idea how the brain works. Learning how nerve cells communicate in the brain is the goal: today’s computers have electronic logic circuits that are either on or off. Engineers are trying to replicate a neuron’s ability to have various levels of excitation.
