A Radical New Theory Could Change the Way We Build Artificial Intelligence

From early on, we're taught that intelligence is inextricably tied to the brain. Brainpower is an informal synonym for intelligence -- and by extension, any discussion of aptitude and acumen uses the brain as a metaphor. Naturally, when technology progressed to the point where humans decided they wanted to replicate human intelligence in machines, the goal was to essentially emulate the brain in an artificial capacity. What if all this talk about creating "neural networks" and robotic brains is actually a misguided approach? What if, when it comes to advancing A.I., we ditched the metaphor of the brain in favor of something much smaller: the cell?