Posted on 07/02/2024 6:40:18 AM PDT by Pontiac
Swiss tech startup FinalSpark is now selling access to biocomputers that combine up to four tiny lab-grown human brains with silicon chips.
This new product, called the Neuroplatform, uses small versions of human brains to do computer work instead of silicon chips. The company says it can fit 16 of these mini-brains onto the Neuroplatform and use a fraction of the energy required to power a traditional set up.
The platform, currently adopted by nine institutions, integrates hardware, software and biology to create a processing system that is energy-efficient and high-performing.
FinalSpark’s founders, Fred Jordan and Martin Kutter, hope to harness the human brain’s compatibility with silicon chips to make a greener future in the tech industry.
“Potentially, computing may ultimately become an activity with no ecological footprint,” Jordan said.The Neuroplatform is made up of 16 spherical brain organoids, or miniature human brains grown in a lab.
The organoids that the Neuroplatform gives access to are made up of about 10,000 living neurons from stem cells derived from human skin tissue, according to Jordan.
These tiny spheres, about 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide, are kept in sterile incubators at body temperature, provided with water and nutrients and connected to an electrical circuit with small electrodes, according to the founders’ research paper in Frontiers.
Using these specialized electrodes, scientists can send electrical signals into brain organoids and measure the resulting responses.
“[The Neuroplatform] enables researchers to test ideas without having to setup a biological lab and hire all the dedicated personnel,” Jordan said. The lab is available to researchers 24/7, uses real human neurons and uses the Python programming language, creating a “dream bridge between biology and data scientists,” according to Jordan.
After accessing the provided login/password, researchers gain the ability to remotely send electrical signals to neurons and receive their responses. It is then the responsibility of researchers to devise optimal algorithms for controlling the behavior of the organoids.
Users can mimic memory function by using periodic electrical stimulation to reinforce synapses through repetition, thus making desired pathways stronger.
Researchers do this by training the organoids through a reward system. The organoids are rewarded with dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure (and addiction).
Meanwhile, as “punishment,” the organoids are exposed to chaotic stimuli, such as irregular electrical activity.
A live view of the biochips working in real-time can be found at www.finalspark.com/live.
The Neuroplatform operates using a wetware architecture, which blends hardware, software and organic biology.
While the human brain only needs 20 watts to power its 86 billion neurons, achieving the same efficiency with silicon would require 10 megawatts of power, according to the FinalSpark website.
The efficiency of the Neuroplatform’s system become especially relevant as Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to grow.
Training large models like GPT-4 needs a lot of energy, as much as “6,000 times the energy a European citizen uses per year.”
The Neuroplatform is a bioprocessing platform, or a type of device designed to carry out biological processes to produce or modify substances. Bioprocessing can involve various biological sources and produce a wide range of products. For example, brewing beer is considered a bioprocess.
In the case of the Neuroplatform, the bioprocess involves deriving energy from the brain organoids, a biological source.
Bioprocessors use very little energy, roughly equivalent to that of a light bulb. This efficiency could make advanced computing more accessible while significantly reducing its carbon footprint.
Although your laptop might not be powered by a human brain organoid anytime soon, the technology can be used to power even larger versions of AI systems like ChatGPT.
However, the current challenge for the project is the lifespan of the organoids.
While silicon chips used in processors can last for decades, brain organoids are estimated to survive for a maximum of 100 days.
FinalSpark’s founders worked with artificial neural networks for the first five years of the company’s existence.
However, after realizing just how much power artificial systems consumed, the team decided to pivot using biological neurons.
“We had basically to learn everything from scratch since that was not our expertise at all,” Jordan said.
When asked about the kind of impact the Neuroplatform will have in the future, Jordan said he imagined “some implications in the field of neuro-degenerative diseases and brain computer interface.”
“If you had asked a similar question to Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, he would probably not have guessed about smartphones and the Internet,” Jordan said.
Yet, this advancement brings ethical dilemmas to light. Using human brain cells, even in a miniature lab-grown form, sparks discussions about consciousness and the essence of life.
Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for discovering induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can transform mature cells into versatile ones without ethical issues. This breakthrough enabled personalized stem cells for studying diseases and advancing regenerative medicine.
Although FinalSpark stresses that these organoids lack sentience, the ethical discourse on utilizing living cells for computing remains ongoing.
“It remains that neurons are probably the most intimate cell for us, as thinking creatures,” Jordan said. “It is clear that technology is always pushing the frontiers, and we, as scientists, need the help of ethicians and philosophers to think about the implications.”
FinalSpark is offering universities and other educational institutions access to the Neuroplatform for $500 a month, with certain projects receiving free access. Businesses seeking access can contact FinalSpark for a personalized quote.
To learn more about FinalSpark and the Neuroplatform, please visit www.finalspark.com.
Oh no! DemocRAT computers!!! God help us!
Swiss Miss, Instant computers, with mini-brains to go!...................
I think I saw this movie...
“The organoids are rewarded with dopamine...”
LOL...feeding our first wetware with dope to train it. Maybe there’ll be a bigger market for all the fentanyl pouring into the country than we knew.
Ping
Just like the punishment the Democrats expose us to -- a fractured, chaotic society where up and down cease to exist.
Catholic Ping.
I am all for making computers more power efficient but I am not willing to do so by perverting the that which God made in his image to do so.
As long as they are growing brains, perhaps they could transplant some that work into Democrats.
Dr. Jill has ordered a dozen of the mini-brains for Flatlinejoe to help get him through the next debate.
“Researchers do this by training the organoids through a reward system. The organoids are rewarded with dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure (and addiction). “
Are these things self aware? One might infer that they are from the above statement.
Why use human brains?
Reminds me of “The Feeling of Power”, a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the February 1958 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction.
Notable theme “Manned Missiles” because their trajectories were so unpredictable and that they were so much cheaper than expensive computer guided ones.
When will we start seeing “manned drones” that can evade air defense systems in Ukraine and Russia?
The only drawback is it keeps going to Pron sites ,LOL
“This is wrong on so many levels. “
Why is it wrong?
My first thought of a movie for this article was Saturn 3 with Kirk Douglas.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079285/
In the future, Earth is overcrowded and the population relies on distant bases to be fed. In the Saturn 3 station, Major Adam (Kirk Douglas) and the scientist Alex (Farrah Fawcett), who is also his lover and has never been on Earth, have been researching hydroponics for three years in the base alone with their dog Sally.
Meanwhile, the psychotic Captain Benson (Harvey Keitel) fails the mental test required to travel to Saturn 3 and kills his replacement, Captain James, taking his place in the mission of assembling and programming the Demi-God series robot Hector to replace one of the scientists in Saturn 3.
On the arrival, the mentally disturbed Captain Benson becomes sexually obsessed for Alex. Then he uses an interface to link his brain to program Hector, but incapable to control his emotions, he transfers his homicidal tendency and insanity to Hector. Now Major Adam and Alex are trapped in the station with a dangerous psychopath robot.
“Why use human brains?”
They aren’t.
I asked the same question.
Why not mice, rabbits, pigs or any other kind of brain?
I remember that story.
I didn’t think of it in this context, but you are right.
Human brains are cheaper to operate than silicone chips so we will use them.
Makes economic sense but is morally repugnant.
As usual money wins.
Because humans were made in God's image.
Adulterating that which is made in God's image is an affront to God.
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