Researchers awarded grant to merge AI with human brain cells

The scientists received a $600,000 grant from Australia's Office of National Intelligence to explore the integration of human brain cells with artificial intelligence.

Collaborating with Cortical Labs, a Melbourne-based startup, the research team successfully demonstrated how a cluster of roughly 800,000 brain cells in a Petri dish can play the game "Pong."

This groundbreaking initiative aims to merge biology with AI, potentially revolutionizing machine learning technology for applications like self-driving cars, autonomous drones, and delivery robots.

Lead researcher Adeel Razi, an associate professor at Monarch University, expressed high hopes for the project, stating that the technology could eventually surpass the performance of existing silicon-based hardware. The team envisions a machine intelligence capable of "learning throughout its lifetime," similar to human brain cells, enabling it to acquire new skills without damaging old ones and applying existing knowledge to new tasks.

The researchers will focus on cultivating brain cells in the DishBrain system, investigating the concept of "continual lifelong learning." This ambitious project seeks to develop AI machines with learning capacities akin to biological neural networks, potentially offering a viable replacement for traditional computing methods.