脳科学×AI
～Beyond AI研究推進機構での脳科学研究に対するソフトバンクの取り組み～

人工汎用知能(AGI)実現における脳科学の関わり

The relevance of brain sciences in realizing AGI

Despite the in-silico implementation of these models being vastly different from the brain, it's crucial not to underestimate the significance of neurosciences in addressing upcoming challenges, such as achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Neurosciences can play a vital role in enhancing energy efficiency and refining memory, planning, and knowledge compression capabilities in LLMs. Analytical techniques from neurosciences can be applied to comprehend the operations of LLM systems, set benchmarks, and ensure safety. With these systems becoming increasingly powerful each day, there is an urgent need to deepen our understanding on how these systems produce their emerging properties.

There is still an opportunity for drawing inspiration from ideas in brain sciences, with the potential for significant breakthroughs, especially in the journey toward achieving AGI. As our understanding of the brain advances, the possibility arises for the development of more sophisticated cognitive architectures/systems in the digital domain. This endeavor demands a combination of taste, imagination, and an ongoing discussion at the intersection of "Brain Sciences x AI" to extract insights from neurosciences.

「議論のできるコミュニティ」構築のための活動

セミナーの開催（2024年1月開始）

Starting in January, Beyond AI will be hosting a series of online seminars titled '脳科学とAIの交差点' which will feature renowned researchers in this field. These seminars aim to facilitate discussions on the intersection of brain sciences, machine learning, and AI, with a special focus on cutting-edge research developments and their potential applications in society. 

The primary objective is to encourage productive exchanges and foster collaboration among academic institutions, SoftBank teams, and participants from the Beyond AI project at the University of Tokyo. Each seminar will last approximately one hour, including a Q&A session, and can be conducted in either Japanese or English, depending on the speaker.

We warmly welcome all SB employees to participate, regardless of their specific field of business.

社内広報のためのSlackチャネル

To share the seminar’s conclusions and the latest research trends in applied neurosciences, we have deployed a Slack channel inside the SoftBank workspace.

Beyond AI研究推進機構での脳科学研究

Brain sciences at Beyond AI:

The Beyond AI project, which supports neurosciences, has recently made advances in enhancing the resilience and adaptability of artificial neural networks (ANN). Professor Kenichi Ohki, from the Department of Physiology at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, drew inspiration from neuroscience studies. He developed a method to strengthen ANN defense against attacks, addressing concerns such as misclassification in image tasks (e.g., mistaking a cat for a dog).

In critical applications like medical systems or driverless cars, ANN confusion can pose serious risks. To mitigate this, Professor Ohki's group introduced noise not only to the input layer but also to deeper layers. This innovative approach has successfully reduced the susceptibility of ANN to adversarial attacks.

Currently, Professor Ohki's group is intensifying collaboration with researchers from SoftBank to develop a visual cortex model that emulates the information transmission observed in calcium images obtained through experiments with mice.

最後に（筆者補足）

この度、ソフトバンク アドベントカレンダー 2023にて4回にわたってBeyond AI研究推進機構での活動を特集させていただきました。

もし、まだ過去の記事をチェックしてなければ、、ぜひ以下のリンクからチェックしてみてください。

 それでは、15日目の記事にバトンを渡したいと思います。ありがとうございました！