Revolutionary AI Device Mimics Human Brain With Few-Molecule Computing

Posted By: baltazar July 17, 2025

Big Data Artificial Intelligence Concept Art Illustration

A team from NIMS and the Tokyo University of Science has developed a novel AI device that surpasses traditional models in predicting diabetic blood glucose levels by utilizing few-molecule reservoir computing and molecular vibrations, heralding new possibilities for compact and energy-efficient AI technologies.

Progress in developing compact AI devices using molecular vibrations and confirming their functionality

A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) device that executes brain-like information processing through few-molecule reservoir computing. This innovation utilizes the molecular vibrations of a select number of organic molecules. By applying this device for the blood glucose level prediction in patients with diabetes, it has significantly outperformed existing AI devices in terms of prediction accuracy

How close the measured value conforms to the correct value.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>accuracy.

With the expansion of machine learning

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that deals with the development of algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so. Machine learning is used to identify patterns in data, classify data into different categories, or make predictions about future events. It can be categorized into three main types of learning: supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>machine learning applications in various industries, there’s an escalating demand for AI devices that are not only highly computational but also feature low-power consumption and miniaturization. Research has shifted towards physical reservoir computing, leveraging physical phenomena presented by materials and devices for neural information processing. One challenge that remains is the relatively large size of the existing materials and devices.

Breakthrough in Reservoir Computing

The research has pioneered the world’s first implementation of physical reservoir computing that operates on the principle of surface-enhanced Raman scattering, harnessing the molecular vibrations of merely a few organic molecules. The information is inputted through ion-gating, which modulates the adsorption of hydrogen ions onto organic molecules (p-mercaptobenzoic acid

Any substance that when dissolved in water, gives a pH less than 7.0, or donates a hydrogen ion.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>acid, pMBA) by applying voltage. The changes in molecular vibrations of the pMBA molecules, which vary with hydrogen ion adsorption, serve the function of memory and nonlinear waveform transformation for calculation. This process, using a sparse assembly of pMBA molecules, has learned approximately 20 hours of a diabetic patient’s blood glucose level changes and managed to predict subsequent fluctuations over the next 5 minutes with an error reduction of about 50% compared to the highest accuracy achieved by similar devices to date.

The deployment of few-molecule reservoir computing harnessing surface-enhanced Raman scattering for predicting blood glucose levels. Credit: Takashi Tsuchiya National Institute for Materials Science

The outcome of this study indicates that a minimal quantity of organic molecules can effectively perform computations comparable to a computer. This technological breakthrough of conducting sophisticated information processing with minimal materials and in tiny spaces presents substantial practical benefits. It paves the way for the creation of low-power AI terminal devices that can be integrated with a variety of sensors, opening avenues for broad industrial use.

Reference: “Few- and single-molecule reservoir computing experimentally demonstrated with surface-enhanced Raman scattering and ion gating” by Daiki Nishioka, Yoshitaka Shingaya, Takashi Tsuchiya, Tohru Higuchi and Kazuya Terabe, 28 February 2024, Science Advances

<em>Science Advances</em> is a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal that is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). It was launched in 2015 and covers a wide range of topics in the natural sciences, including biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, materials science, and physics.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk6438

The research initiative was spearheaded by Daiki Nishioka, serving as a Trainee in Ionic Devices Group at NIMS, Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), who is also a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellow at Tokyo University of Science, and Takashi Tsuchiya, Principal Researcher, and Kazuya Terabe, Group Leader, both part of Ionic Devices Group at MANA, NIMS. This project is a segment of the “Nano Materials for New Principle Devices,” supervised by Yoshihiro Iwasa, and is focused on the “Creation of Ultrafast Iontronics” under the auspices of JST PRESTO (JPMJPR23H4).