The world is kind of divided on AI these days.
Some folks being thrilled and excited about all of the potential and the brave new world, and others being reticent, feeling as if AI is trying to take over the wrong things.
But I have a feeling that throwing around the phrases “mini brains” and “living computer” will make more than a few people uncomfortable.
The apparatus was designed by FinalSpark, a Switzerland-based startup, and they claim it will be an alternative to silicon-based computing.
Other researchers can remotely access the startup’s biocomputer, called Neuroplatform, in order to use it to conduct studies. It can even be used to study AI, which otherwise requires a whole lot of energy.
FinalSpark strategic advisor Ewelina Kurtys talked about the computer in a company blog post.
“One of the biggest advantages of biological computing is that neurons compute information with much less energy than digital computers. It is estimated that living neurons can use over 1 million times less energy than the current digital processors we use.”
FinalSpark takes samples of human brain tissue derived from neural stem cells, called brain organoids, and places them in a special environment designed to keep them alive.
Then they hook up the “mini brains” to specialized electrodes to perform processing and analog conversions. This transforms neural activity into digital information.
The concept of living computers has been around for awhile, and as weird as they sound, they do have some significant advantages over more traditional machines.
“This is one of the reasons why using living neurons for computations is such a compelling opportunity. Apart from possible improvements in AI model generalization, we could also reduce greenhouse emissions without sacrificing technological progress.”
Swiss startup FinalSpark has launched the Neuroplatform, a cloud computing platform that runs on living human brain organoids.
In a nutshell, these living computers use brain organoids – tiny balls of brain cells grown in a lab from stem cells. pic.twitter.com/kDYjIah8ST
— Shray Bansal (@shraybans) June 19, 2024
They believe Neuroplatform could be the next step in AI computing.
Given the growing need AI companies have for energy resources, they just might be barking up the right tree.
If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.