  Developing whole-brain emulation (WBE) technology would provide immense
benefits across neuroscience, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and
robotics. At this time, constructing a simulated human brain lacks feasibility
due to limited experimental data and limited computational resources. However,
I suggest that progress towards this goal might be accelerated by working
towards an intermediate objective, namely insect brain emulation (IBE). More
specifically, this would entail creating biologically realistic simulations of
entire insect nervous systems along with more approximate simulations of
non-neuronal insect physiology to make "virtual insects." I argue that this
could be realistically achievable within the next 20 years. I propose that
developing emulations of insect brains will galvanize the global community of
scientists, businesspeople, and policymakers towards pursuing the loftier goal
of emulating the human brain. By demonstrating that WBE is possible via IBE,
simulating mammalian brains and eventually the human brain may no longer be
viewed as too radically ambitious to deserve substantial funding and resources.
Furthermore, IBE will facilitate dramatic advances in cognitive neuroscience,
artificial intelligence, and robotics through studies performed using virtual
insects.
