Developing a computer that can be as decisive and intelligent as humans is on IBM's mind, and it's making progress toward achieving that goal. IBM's computer chip called TrueNorth is designed to emulate the functions of a human brain. The company is now running tests and benchmarking TrueNorth to demonstrate how fast and power efficient the chips can be compared to today's computers. The results of the head-to-head contest are impressive. IBM says TrueNorth can engage in deep learning and make decisions based on associations and probabilities, much like human brains.

AI is one of those technologies whose promise is resurrected periodically, but only slowly advances into the real world. I remember the dog-and-pony AI shows at IBM, MIT, Carnie-Melon, Thinking Machines, and the like in the mid-1980s, as well as the technohippie proponents like Jaron Lanier who often graced the covers of the era's gee-whiz magazine like "Omni." AI is an area where much of the science is well established, but the implementation is still quite immature. It's not that the emperor has no clothes -- rather, the emperor is only now wearing underwear. There's a lot more dressing to be done.