Researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada, have built the world’s most sophisticated artificial brain to date. Known as ‘Spaun’, (short for Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network), the model is able to simulate complex brain behaviour and is capable of thinking remembering, seeing and interacting with its environment using a mechanical arm. Although Spaun currently exists in the simulated world inside a computer, it is one of the most advanced models ever created by scientists to understand how the human brain functions. Unlike previous brain models, such as the 'million processor computer', which feature large networks of neurons with generally...