A future where computers are powered by lab-grown brain cells may be closer than we could ever have ... [+]
While the world has been captivated by recent advances in artificial intelligence, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified a new form of intelligence: organoid intelligence. A future where computers are powered by lab-grown brain cells may be closer than we could ever have imagined.
What is an organoid? Organoids are three-dimensional tissue cultures commonly derived from human pluripotent stem cells. What looks like a clump of cells can be engineered to function like a human organ, mirroring its key structural and biological characteristics. Under the right laboratory conditions, genetic instructions from donated stem cells allow organoids to self-organize and grow into any type of organ tissue, including the human brain.
Although this may sound like science-fiction, brain organoids have been used to model and study neurodegenerative diseases for nearly a decade. Emerging studies now reveal that these lab grown brain cells may be capable of learning. In fact, a research team from Melbourne recently reported that they trained 800,000 brain cells to perform the computer game, Pong (see video). As this field of research continues to grow, researchers speculate that this so-called “intelligence in a dish” may be able to outcompete artificial intelligence.
Intelligence is broadly defined as the ability to acquire, store and apply information. This is one of the key defining characteristics of the human experience. Executing any task requires some level of intelligence irrespective of consciousness or self-awareness. An AI chatbot platform like ChatGPT, for example, can respond to its users in real time with curated responses, but the extent of its intelligence is bound by data-based algorithms. Computers inherently cannot “think” or “feel” on their own. Similarly, brain organoids can learn to perform tasks, but there is no evidence that they are capable of consciousness. When referring to artificial or organoid intelligence, we must be careful not to project uniquely human capabilities of thinking and feeling onto them. Intelligence alone is not sufficient for the subjective feeling of consciousness.
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Both artificial and organoid intelligence, however, stand to be useful tools for increasing efficiency. Artificial intelligence can perform calculations, provide personalized recommendations, and facilitate automation of manual tasks. While AI can process information much faster than the human brain, it does have its limitations. AI technology is currently limited to sequential processing, and therefore, only excels at tasks that can be done in chronological order, such as mathematics. In addition to this type of processing, the human brain has the unique ability to perform parallel processing, allowing us to analyze multiple pieces of information simultaneously. Even with something as simple as the sense of vision, our brains can identify the color, shape, position, and reflective speed of an object instantaneously.
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When encountering unfamiliar or changing information, human intelligence fairs far better than computers. A person needs far fewer trials to learn a new task. One study, for example, found that individuals were able to learn a simple” same-versus-different task” with only 10 training sessions. AI computers, on the other hand, were unable to learn the task, even after ten million training sessions. Not only is machine learning less efficient during complex tasks, but computers also have significantly greater energy demands. Estimates from 2016 showed that the equivalence of 34 power plants was needed to meet the energy demands of all data centers based in the United States. In contrast, the human brain with its undefined storage limit only requires a fraction of that energy.
By leveraging the benefits of biological learning, organoid intelligence has the potential to enhance automation and reduce energy consumption. Brain organoids provide insight into how the human brain performs complex tasks like learning and memory. This is only possible due to recent advancements in developing organoids that allow them to mirror the microscopic structure and function of the brain. These 3D models have been found to exhibit spontaneous electrical nerve activity and react to stimulation, in a manner that replicates brain activity recorded by an electroencephalogram, or EEG.
Where there is electrical activity, there is an active synapse, or a junction between neurons that allows information to be stored as a memory. The human brain has trillions of synapses that enable us to store seemingly unlimited information throughout our lifetime. To reach similar storage capacities, researchers aim to scale up current brain organoid models. In the near future, a computer powered by lab grown brain cells may be able to store and retrieve large amounts of data more efficiently with smaller demands for energy.
Brain organoid-powered computer systems may also provide a new window of opportunity for preclinical drug treatment trials. A biological-electrical interface can report real time physiological data on how nerve cells respond to a new drug, while mitigating the ethical challenges of exposing humans or animals to possible side effects.
Organoid intelligence has limitless possibilities for research and innovation. As this emerging field continues to advance, however, several ethical questions have yet to be answered. Currently, there is no evidence that these cells have a consciousness, or the ability to “think” or “feel” on their own, but as these models are scaled up, we cannot be sure that they never will. Consciousness is far more complex than we may ever be able to understand. It is possible that research will eventually encounter the Greely Dilemma: the idea that in an effort to develop more realistic and ethical methods for studying the brain, we may create models that are also eligible for moral and ethical protections. As these models become more “human-like”, researchers will be forced to define what makes a person, a person.
Even if these 3D brain cultures never become sentient, there is still the question of who owns the intellectual brain property that they produce. This is a question that has already been asked in relation to artificial intelligence. The fact that the stem cells used to generate brain organoids come from donor volunteers further complicates this ethical question. Do those volunteers retain the rights for anything created using their genetic code? While the field of organoid intelligence seems promising, ongoing research will require a close relationship between study coordinators, ethics experts, and the general public.
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I am a scientist, businessman, author, and philanthropist. For nearly two decades, I was a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public
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