A French research team has proposed a radical innovation in artificial intelligence: electromechanical artificial neurons. The team has developed technology that mimics the function of mammalian neurons closely, using graphene to trap water molecules in a similar way to the internal flow of ions within nerve cells. Simulations suggest that the water molecules will assemble themselves under the influence of electric fields in ways that show a memristor effect, very promising for both storage and information processing applications.

In a different yet similarly significant AI development, the US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected an inventor’s application that a neural network be named as inventor on a patent application. That rejection was upheld by a federal court, but the appeals process is ongoing. The situation in Australia is exactly the opposite, with lower courts ruling that AI can be named inventor, with that nation’s patent authorities appealing that decision. The outcomes may have a profound effect on how we define invention and innovation in the 21st century.

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