Medical Moment: Artificial intelligence without internet

(WNDU) - With our computers and devices, smart watches, video monitoring systems, we rely on connectivity to the internet and don’t think twice about it.

Now, scientists are developing technology for artificial intelligence that will allow it to work even in remote areas. Researchers at the University of Central Florida are developing devices that won’t rely on internet connection.

“What we are trying to do is make small devices, which will mimic the neurons and synapses of the brain,” said Tania Roy, PhD, a researcher at the University of Central Florida.

Currently, artificial intelligence learning requires connection to a remote server to perform heavy computing calculations. The scientists are making the AI circuits microscopically small.

“Each device that we have is the size of 1/100th of a human hair,” Dr. Roy said.

The AI can fit on a small microchip, less than an inch wide, eliminating the need for internet connection, meaning life-saving devices could work in remote areas. For example, helping emergency responders find missing hikers.

“We send a drone which has a camera eye, and it can just go and locate those people and rescue them,” Dr. Roy explained.

The scientists say with no need for internet connection, the AI would also work in space, where no AI technology has gone before.

Scientists at the University of Central Florida have gone beyond prior research developing tiny brain-like computer chips.

They’ve now developed a device for artificial intelligence that mimics the retina of the eye.

The development could lead to advanced AI that can instantly recognize what it sees and could have applications in self-driving cars and robotics. Researchers say the device outperforms the eye in the number of wavelengths it can see, from ultraviolet to visible light and on to the infrared spectrum. The UCF-developed device integrates three different operations into one. Current intelligent imaging technology, like what’s used in self-driving vehicles, requires separate sensing, memorization and data processing.

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