As technology has advanced over the years, it has become increasingly good at performing a wide range of tasks. Computers are able to beat humans at chess (and basically any other game), perform calculations extremely fast, and do much more.
Now, with the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT, it is even possible for computer systems to engage in real-time conversations that can closely mimic real people.
As the line between living beings and computer systems continues to blur, many people expect that it will be easy to distinguish simply because we can always look at the computer systems doing the virtual thinking. If the thinking is done in an organic brain, then it is living. If the thinking is done on a computer chip, then it is a chip.
Nice and simple, right?
Well, not anymore. A Swiss company called FinalSpark has developed what they are calling a ‘mini-brain’ that uses an organoid that is derived directly from human stem cells to do certain types of thinking. This platform has been called the Neuroplatform and it is quite impressive.
The mini-brains are about the size of a pea but they contain about 10,000 neurons. They are kept in incubators right around 38 degrees Celcius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
To show the power of this platform, FinalSpark has set up a system that allows the mini-brain to respond to external stimulation.
The team set up a virtual world (controlled by a traditional computer) where a butterfly is fluttering around. Human beings can click anywhere in this virtual world.
If they click in an area where the computer system determines that the butterfly would be able to see it, then the mini-brain responds to the stimuli and flies toward that location. If the click is outside the butterfly’s field of visiting, it just continues to fly randomly.
In a blog post concerning this project, Daniel Burger, a research and development engineer with FinalSpark, says:
“It’s crucial to emphasize that while these movement functions are implemented in software, the decision to use one or the other is driven by the brain organoid’s response to stimulation.”
So, while this may be very simple processing from the mini-brain, it is processing nonetheless. The team also says that it is possible to run software on the mini-brains, which will almost certainly be done in the future.
Having the ability to use these organic mini-brains is an impressive proof of concept for the possibility of moving from silicon-based computing to biological systems. This transition won’t likely happen in the near future, but there will undoubtedly be applications where is occurs sooner than many people would have previously thought.
To see this in action, check out this brief video from FinalSpark:
What are we if not just biological computers?
