Interesting, we talked about artificial minds in my neuropsychology class just yesterday and also made points about how it would be impossible to have a *real* brain alone.
A brain is a complex organ made almost entirely of fat that has the soul pourpus of integrating and analyzing information taken by your 5 senses. If you have a brain alone, not connected to any senses (visual, touch, smell, taste and hearing), it will bad trip.
In 1957, Woodburn Heron made a
study with subjects that would have there vision, hearing and touch senses neutralized with a series of tools (special glasses, special room etc.) with water/food on demand and bathroom breaks. Most of them where unable to concentrate, they started to have hallucinations, created images of the future to get out of boredom and almost everyone stopped the experiment before it's end.
A brain cannot behave with sensory deprivation, it needs to be stimulated. This is why I have high skepticism about this experiment. If they can create an artificial "real" brain, they will need to create artificial senses, otherwise there "brain" will get mad.
Guess why NASA stopped sending only 1 astronaut alone in there space programs after that study? I'l send that article to my neuropsy teachers and see there reactions.