Scientists at John Hopkins University are working on research to enable AI to be constructed using human brain cells, arguing that the use of organic materials is more efficient than traditional computing systems.
The technology has come to be known as OI, or “organoid intelligence,” and scientists have already achieved success in “programming” organic materials. In October, scientists in Australia linked a dish of 800,000 living brain cells to a computer, successfully teaching it to play the 1970s video game Pong.
Now, researchers are hoping that organic materials produced in vitro, known as “organoids,” can provide a more efficient alternative to silicon computer chips.
Via the New York Post:
A study helmed by researchers at John Hopkins University (JHU) in a large international collaboration was published Tuesday in the medical journal “Frontiers,” detailing this alleged Frankentech the team called a “new frontier.”
“The vision of OI [organoid intelligence] is to use the power of the biological system to advance the field of live sciences, bioengineering, and computer science,” Lena Smirnova, a JHU researcher and author on the paper, told VICE.
To harness these capabilities, the scientists hope to employ “organoids,” 3D cultures of human brain cells that replicate parts of our noggin responsible for learning and memory. Their size allows the neurons within them to form significantly more connections than standard silicone computer chips, which could be rendered obsolete by this bold new biotech. In fact, researchers foresee this biological hardware getting hooked up to AI and machine learning systems like ChatGPT and Bing, er Sidney, in the near future — think an advanced Krang from “Ninja Turtles.”
In a press release, the researchers said they also hoped the technology could have medical applications, assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disease.
“For example, we could compare memory formation in organoids derived from healthy people and from Alzheimer’s patients, and try to repair relative deficits,” said Prof. Thomas Hartung, one of the Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
