Forget AI, the Age of Organic Intelligence Has Arrived: Bold Technology Makes Computer Chips Obsolete

While artificial intelligence is a hot topic of discussion, scientists are about to launch a type of intelligence that is 1,000 times stronger than AI.

The advent of AI (artificial intelligence) has had a major impact on human life over the past decade. While the maturity of AI is still causing much controversy, scientists have begun to create a much more advanced type of intelligence. That is  OI (organic intelligence) .

Things to know about OI - Organic Intelligence 

Organic intelligence is a form of artificial intelligence created from human brain cells. (Photo: Forbes)

Organic Intelligence (OI) is a form of artificial intelligence created from human brain cells. Scientists will use 3D culture technology and develop human brain cells. Then they will use computing technology to train thinking and behavior and thereby create a hybrid entity between human and machine called biocomputer or biocomputing technology. This program is carried out by researchers at John Hopkins University (USA).

Vision of the Organic Intelligence Research Project

According to Lena Smirnova, a researcher at John Hopkins University, the vision of the organic intelligence development project is to exploit the power of biological systems on living organisms to promote the fields of life sciences, biotechnology and computer science.

The team is currently growing a ' bionic brain ' grown from human brain cells in the lab. It's a small sphere made up of about 50,000 cells, with a nervous system the size of a fruit fly. But inside the object are brain cells firing across synapses and electrical impulses traveling back and forth. At the current pace, it could take decades for scientists to scale this up to a brain system as intelligent as a mouse.

Scientists are growing a "bionic brain" grown from human brain cells in the lab. (Photo: Forbes)

Scientists are developing biocomputing using 3D scaffolds of human brain cells and brain-machine interface technology. These organs share the structure and function of the brain in its primary role of learning and memory. In simple terms, they will act as biological hardware for machines.

The highlight of organic intelligence

"Today's computers are no match for the human brain, " said Thomas Hartung, a professor of environmental health sciences at Hopkins and the study's lead author.  "The human brain has an incredible capacity for storing information: the average noggin can store about 2,500 terabytes, about 1,000 times more than the latest MacBook Air. While silicon-based computers are better at crunching numbers, the brain is better at learning. Not only that, they also use much less energy than silicon."

The brain has about 100 billion neurons linked through more than 1015 connection points. (Photo: Forbes)

The Frontier supercomputer, located in Tennessee, USA, costs up to 600 million USD and has an installation area of ​​up to 631 thousand m2.  However, it was not until June last year that it first exceeded the computing capacity of the human brain while consuming 1 million times more energy.

Also, silicon computers are reaching physical limits because it is impossible to pack more transistors into a small chip, but the brain is completely different. It has about 100 billion neurons connected through more than 1015 connection points and it is the perfect solution to upgrade machine intelligence.

What is the difference between OI and AI?

Some of the key differences between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence include:

• Learning: Organic intelligence has the ability to learn from experience and adapt to new situations, while AI requires explicit programming and training to learn.
• Creativity : Organic intelligence has the ability to generate novel and innovative ideas, while artificial intelligence is limited to the data it has been trained on.
• Emotions : Organic intelligence has the ability to experience and express emotions, while AI does not have emotions.

Organic intelligence and artificial intelligence are fundamentally different in their capabilities, limitations, and basic structures. (Photo: Forbes)

• Context : Organic intelligence is capable of understanding and operating in a complex context, whereas AI is limited to the specific tasks it has been programmed to perform.
• Adaptability : OI has the ability to adapt to new and changing environments, while AI requires reprogramming to adapt to new situations.

In short, organic intelligence and artificial intelligence are fundamentally different in their capabilities, limitations, and basic structure.

The Future of Organic Intelligence

It is clear that using organic intelligence can solve the problem of excessive energy consumption that supercomputers running on silicon semiconductor chips are facing. From the above comparison, we can see that although supercomputers are capable of processing numbers at the speed of light, organic intelligence is capable of handling more complex problems with much less energy consumption.

Scientists still have ambitions to soon launch organic intelligence technology that is many times more advanced than AI. (Photo: Forbes)

However, just as with AI, scientists are still concerned about the potential dangers to humanity if organic intelligence gets out of our control. So we still need independent scientists and bioethicists to monitor the activities of organic intelligence.

Fortunately, the Australian Cortical Lab says it has grown 800,000 brain cells in a dish, while to power a computer or store memory similar to the human brain, they need at least 10 million cells. However, scientists still have ambitions to soon launch organic intelligence technology many times more advanced than AI. If successful in the future, this bold technology could make current computer chips obsolete.