Brain cells in the lab learn to play games faster than AI

The leap forward development of artificial intelligence (AI) makes the scientific community warn that the day when machines will overtake humans are not far away. However, the information below may temporarily ease this concern.

Australian scientists found that when living brain cells in a lab dish were placed in a 'virtual game world', they were able to learn how to play the video game Pong.

The "DishBrain" system for growing brain cells at Cortical Labs.

"I think it's fair to call them cyborg brains," said Brett Kagan, chief scientific officer of Cortical Labs.

Sputnik reported that many researchers from around the world have studied the network of neurons in the laboratory dish, which often form organoids like the brain. However, the Cortical Labs findings are the first to show that tiny "brains" can carry out predefined goals.

To teach brain cells to play Pong, the team used a single-player version of the game and sent an electrical signal to the right or left of the microelectrode array to indicate the ball's position. The "brain" then activates the neurons to move the rod according to the position of the ball.

However, hundreds of thousands of human brain cells in a lab dish can not only learn to play Pong, but can also learn faster than AI.

Although these brain cells don't play Pong as well as AI or real people, they learn to play faster than most. 'Their learning speed is amazing, only about 5 minutes in real time. It's really an amazing thing that biology can do." 

The 'brains' the team developed are made up of 800,000 to 1 million living brain cells, the equivalent of a cockroach's brain. Some contain embryonic brain cells from mice, while others contain human brain cells derived from stem cells.

According to the report, advanced machine learning and drug testing are seen as two possible applications for Cortical Labs' new discovery.