Researchers advocate the idea of using a ``mini brain'' cultured in the laboratory as a biocomputer

Artificial intelligence (AI), which has been a hot topic in recent years, has made great strides with an approach inspired by the human brain. Under such circumstances, an interdisciplinary research team proposed the idea of 'Organoid intelligence (OI)', which uses brain organoids (mini-brains) made from human stem cells as biological hardware. I explained the roadmap for its realization.

Frontiers | Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/science/articles/10.3389/fsci.2023.1017235

Scientists unveil plan to create biocomputers powered by human brain cells - Science & research news | Frontiers
https://blog.frontiersin.org/2023/02/28/brain-organoids-intelligence-biocomoputing-hartung/

Scientists unveil plan to create biocomputers |
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/980084

Lab-grown minibrains will be used as 'biological hardware' to create new biocomputers, scientists propose | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/lab-grown-minibrains-will-be-used-as-biological-hardware-to-create-new-biocomputers-scientists-propose

Although brain organoids are not direct miniature versions of the human brain, they do contain key parts of brain function and structure, including neurons and other brain cells essential for cognitive functions such as learning and memory. Also, unlike general cultured cells, it has a three-dimensional structure, so the cell density is high and neurons can form more connections.

Many studies have already been conducted using brain organoids, and studies on the mechanism of drugs' effects on the brain and research on repairing brain damage in rats with human brain organoids have been reported. Research has also shown that brain organoids can be made to play the table tennis game PONG .

Succeeded in letting the ``mini brain'' of people cultured in the laboratory play the game, learned in just 5 minutes faster than AI - GIGAZINE

An interdisciplinary research team such as Professor Thomas Hartung , who studies cell culture and pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University, announced the idea of using such brain organoids as biological hardware and its roadmap. 'We call this emerging interdisciplinary field 'organoid intelligence' (OI). We believe this technology will usher in a new era of fast, powerful and efficient biocomputing,' Hartung said. I am.”

In response to the question, ``How good are brain organoids in imitating the human brain, are they not as good as computers?'' Professor Hartung said, ``Silicon-based computers are certainly strong in numbers, but , the brain is good at learning,' commented. For example, the Go AI ' AlphaGo ', which became a hot topic in 2016 when it defeated a top human pro, was trained with data from 160,000 games, and it takes 5 days for a human to accumulate such game experience. It is necessary to continue the time match for more than 175 years. However, humans can improve their Go skills with much less time and energy costs than this, and humans will be better at learning time and cost performance.

Professor Hartung also said, ``The brain also has an amazing ability to store an estimated 2,500 TB of information.'' ``Since we can't pack more transistors into a small chip, we are reaching the physical limits of silicon computers. But the brain is wired very differently, with about 100 billion neurons linked together through more than 10 ¹⁵ connection points, a power difference that is incomparable with current technology. ', appealing the benefits of using brain organoids for computing.

The research team notes that various improvements are needed to build organoid intelligence using brain organoids. For example, brain organoids at the time of writing contain about 50,000 cells, but organoid intelligence requires increasing the number of brain cells to 10 million. In addition, we need to combine fields such as bioengineering and machine learning to develop communication systems to exchange information with brain organoids and tools to record data. In a paper published in August 2022, Professor Hartung and his colleagues have already reported that they have developed a brain-computer interface that can send and receive signals with brain organoids.

While the promise of using brain organoids is growing, creating brain organoids capable of learning and memory and capable of interacting with their environment raises complex ethical questions. In addition to research results that have already succeeded in developing primitive eyes in brain organoids , there is also a report that signals similar to baby's brain waves have been detected from brain organoids.

A signal similar to a baby's brain wave is detected from a very small brain cultured from skin cells - GIGAZINE

Co-author of the paper, Professor Alison Muotori of the University of California, San Diego, has already found that brain organoids can mimic the brain waves of babies, and it has also been found that brain waves fade out when anesthetized, just like the human brain. pointed out that there is In order to measure the degree of consciousness of brain organoids, Mr. Muotori and others are conducting research to collect the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI / perturbation complexity index), which is a measure of the presence or absence of consciousness.

Scientists believe brain organoids may gain some form of consciousness or intelligence, but it is unclear whether human-like consciousness actually occurs. Professor Hank Greeley , who studies ethical and legal issues arising from biological sciences at Stanford University, told the scientific media Live Science, ``No matter how many neurons are connected to each other, it will not be intelligent. Well, if I piled up a million pieces of cut stone, it wouldn't make Chartres Cathedral , it would just be a pile of cut stones, and it's the structure, connections, and environment of the brain cells that make up the actual brain. It is,' he commented.

“A key part of our vision is to develop organoid intelligence in an ethical and socially responsible manner,” said Professor Hartung. We have established a 'Best Ethics' approach, where all ethical issues are continuously evaluated as research progresses by a team of ethicists, scientists and the general public.' , showed a willingness to proceed with organoid intelligence research with ethical considerations.