A new multidisciplinary research institute has been founded at King's College London to help tackle major challenges for society and find innovative ways to advance knowledge, with nanotechnology playing a crucial role.
Institute Overview
King's has launched the King's Human and Synthetic Minds Institute to bring together expertise from across King's and its partner organisations to help address complex global challenges in linking physics, engineering and neuroscience to understand intelligence and mind and apply knowledge of how the brain works to new hardware designs.
"To solve complex global problems, we need to combine expertise from different disciplines which is why King's vision supports multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to our research. Creating this new institute will enable King's academics and researchers to work together with our partners to advance our knowledge around these important global challenges." - Professor Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice President (Research & Innovation), King's College London
Research Focus
The institute will be led by Professor Federico Turkheimer of the Institute for Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience.
Two LCN Academics, Professor Anatoly Zayats and Professor Bipin Rajendran, will serve as co-directors alongside Professor Fay Bound Alberti (Faculty of Arts & Humanities) and Professor Sandrine Thuret (Institute for Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience).
Drawing on the latest research in biology and computing, the institute hopes to bring about economical, educational and societal advances through technological, cultural and therapeutic endeavours. It also aims to use neuroscientific discourses and practices to help improve understanding of human creativity, as well as provide the inspiration for engineering energy-efficient and reliable computing platforms.
"Through the universal language of mathematics and the evocative power of storytelling, by bringing together expertise from many different disciplines, we want to advance our understanding of how intelligence and creativity determine who we are, what it means to be human and shape our world." - Professor Federico Turkheimer, Director of the King's Human and Synthetic Minds Institute
The institute will bring together academics from various faculties, including the Institute for Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, and the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences. It will also draw on expertise from other organisations and collaborate globally to address the complex challenges surrounding human and artificial intelligence.
"AI faces several key challenges today, including the need for energy efficiency, ethical decision-making, interpretability, and the replication of human-like creativity and adaptability. The interdisciplinary collaboration at the King's Human and Synthetic Minds Institute offers a unique opportunity to address these challenges. By bringing together experts from neuroscience, physics, engineering, humanities, and the arts, the institute's researchers will draw inspiration from human cognitive processes to build more efficient and reliable AI systems. They will also create new tools and methods to model, monitor, and understand human intelligence." - Professor Bipin Rajendran
Role of Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology plays a crucial role in advancing both artificial intelligence and our understanding of the human brain. It enhances computational capabilities through brain-inspired designs, allowing for the creation of smaller, more efficient components that significantly enhance the processing power and energy efficiency of novel computational systems. Advanced nanosensors can provide high-resolution data, improving the accuracy and functionality, especially in fields like medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring.
"Nanotechnology enables precise and efficient devices for advancement of both artificial intelligence and neuroscience and is a bridge between human and artificial worlds. I am very excited that this institute will provide opportunities for close collaboration between physicists, engineers, neurobiologists and social scientists to understand and link artificial and human intelligence." - Professor Anatoly Zayats
In understanding the human brain, nanotechnology helps to develop tools that can interact with neural tissues at a very precise level, helping in mapping neural circuits and understanding brain functions. Nanotechnology is also pivotal in creating brain-computer interfaces, which can facilitate direct communication between the brain and external devices.
Future Prospects
Looking ahead, researchers are investigating the potential of brain-inspired hardware and computational algorithms, and in turn, using these new tools to understand brain and mind, which could dramatically reshape how we engage with technology and process information. By providing more accurate and efficient tools, nanotechnology is poised to spur major breakthroughs in both engineering new information processing systems and neuroscience at the King's Human and Synthetic Minds Institute. This interdisciplinary strategy, drawing on expertise from multiple fields, holds the promise of deeper insights and innovative solutions to complex challenges in human and artificial intelligence, potentially revolutionising technology, healthcare, and our comprehension of human cognition.