Chinese scientists have unveiled an autonomous bicycle that can steer itself, avoid obstacles and respond to voice commands thanks to a newly developed chip called “Tianjic” (“天机”) that acts as the brains of the bike.

The chip combines computer science-based machine learning and brain-inspired approaches and is believed by the research team to be the next step forward in the achievement of artificial general intelligence* (AGI), which refers to a machine’s ability to learn any intellectual task that a human being can.

“Using just one chip, we can demonstrate the simultaneous processing of versatile algorithms* and models in an unmanned bicycle system, realizing real-time voice control, obstacle avoidance and balance control,” Shi Luping, along with his colleagues at the Center for Brain Inspired Computing Research at Tsinghua University, wrote in a paper published in the journal Nature.

According to Synced, China’s first platform dedicated mainly to the AI industry, researchers around the world have either used computer science-based approaches or neuroscience* modalities in pursuit of AGI.

However, the two systems each have their own incompatible* platforms which made progress slow and difficult, so the Tianjic chip being able to bridge the two is considered “revolutionary.”(SD-Agencies)