Silicon
Valley-based Oshi Agabi has unveiled a computer based not on silicon but on
mice neurons at the TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania. The system has been
trained
to recognise the smell of explosives and could be used to replace
traditional airport security, he said. .
Eventually
the modem-sized device - dubbed Koniku Kore - could provide the brain for
future robots. Agabi is attempting to reverse-engineer biology, which already
accomplishes this function with a fraction of the power it would take a
silicon-based processor.
EYES OF
LAGOS learnt that, He launched his start-up Koniku over a year ago, has raised
$1m (£800,000) in funding and claims it is already making profits of $10m in
deals with the security industry. Koniku Kore is an amalgam of living neurons
and silicon, with olfactory capabilities — basically sensors that can detect
and recognise smells. .
"You
can give the neurons instructions about what to do - in our case we tell it to
provide a receptor that can detect explosives." He envisages a future
where such devices can be discreetly used at various points in airports,
eliminating the need for queues to get through airport security. .
As well as
being used for bomb detection, the device could be used to detect illness by
sensing markers of a disease in the air molecules that a patient gives off. .
A
self-described "scrawny, nerdy kid," Agabi grew up in the suburb of
Surulere in Lagos, Nigeria and obtained a Bachelors degree in Physics from
University of Lagos. .
He went on
to do further studies in physics and neuroscience in Sweden and Switzerland.
"One of the things growing up in Lagos imparts in you is grit," he
says. "Lagos is a place that demands grit. Growing up there gave me an
unconventional way of always looking at problems."
‘A world
first’
Agabi said
the Koniku Kore device is “a world first” and able to do just that, essentially
through breathing in and smelling the air.
He said
“major brands”, including those in the travel industry, had signed up and the
start-up’s current revenues of $8 million (7 million euros) were expected to
leap to $30 million by 2018.
One of the
main challenges was finding a way to keep the neurons alive, a secret Agabi did
not wish to expand on, saying only they could be kept alive for two years in a
lab environment and two months in the device.
As AI
improves in leaps and bounds, scientists are trying to make and succeeding in
making machines more like our brains, able to learn and understand their
surroundings: a prospect that is terrifying for many.
Musk, who
has repeatedly warned about the perils of AI making humans obsolete, is working
on a new project to implant “neural lace” brain-interface technology to prevent
humans becoming like a “house cat” to potential machine masters.
However,
Agabi, who grew up in Lagos where he helped his mother sell food on the
streets, believes the future of AI lies in making machines more alive.
He believes
his company could build a cognitive humanoid system based on synthetic living
neurons in the next five to seven years. “It’s not science fiction,” he told
AFP.
“We want to
build a brain of biological neurons - an autonomous system that has
intelligence. We do not want to build a human brain.”
Agabi did a
bachelors degree in theoretical physics in Lagos before taking an interest in
neuroscience and bio-engineering for his PhD in London.
African
innovation at TED
He spoke at
the opening session of the four-day TEDGlobal conference, putting African
ideas, innovation and creativity in the spotlight with a variety of speakers
who each get an 18-minute window to get across their message of choice.
TED -
originally known as Technology, Entertainment and Design - has built a global
following for its online videos of inspiring talks devoted to “ideas worth
spreading”.
The annual
international version is taking place in Africa for the first time in a decade
with a new crop of “TED Fellows” from the continent to take to the stage.
“This
gathering couldn’t come a moment too soon,” said TEDGlobal co-curator Emeka
Okafor. “Africa has experienced spectacular economic, demographic and creative
growth, but both opportunity and danger are rising at an exponential rate. Our
conference will gather the idea catalysts, problem-solvers and change-makers
already hard at work here charting Africa’s own path to modernity.”
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