I appreciate the content of this article but I take opposition to the way it's being presented. Artificial brains did not start with nanotechnology but with the relatively long existing neural network:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_network Artificial synapses have long existed and have even been programmed to exhibit differential threshholds. They can even 'learn' through 'experience,' which is, as I understand it, they're main function.