Australian Research Receives Grant to Merge Human Brain Cells with AI, Revolutionizing Machine Learning
An Australian research team has been awarded a $600,000 grant by Australia’s Office of National Intelligence for a groundbreaking project that aims to merge human brain cells with artificial intelligence (AI). Collaborating with Melbourne-based startup Cortical Labs, the team seeks to explore the integration of biology and AI in order to revolutionize machine learning.
The team has already made significant progress, successfully demonstrating how approximately 800,000 brain cells in a Petri dish can play the classic video game Pong. Led by Adeel Razi, an associate professor at Monarch University, the researchers believe that this new technology has the potential to eventually surpass the performance of current silicon-based hardware.
The implications of this research are vast and extend across numerous fields, including planning, robotics, advanced automation, brain-machine interfaces, and drug discovery. Razi highlights that this technology could enable machine intelligence to learn throughout its lifespan, similar to human brain cells. This means that machines could acquire new skills without losing old ones and apply existing knowledge to tackle new tasks.
The team’s focus now lies in cultivating brain cells in a lab dish called the DishBrain system. Through this process of continual lifelong learning, Razi and his colleagues aim to investigate and develop AI machines capable of replicating the learning capacity found in biological neural networks.
This grant will be instrumental in developing AI machines that can mimic the learning capabilities of these biological neural networks, Razi explains. The objective is to scale up the hardware and methods to a point where they become a viable replacement for silicon-based computing.
The integration of human brain cells with AI has the potential to revolutionize the field of machine learning, pushing boundaries and opening new possibilities. By embracing this innovative approach, researchers in Australia are paving the way for advancements that could have a significant strategic advantage for the country.
In conclusion, the grant received by Australian researchers and Cortical Labs to merge human brain cells with AI marks a major milestone in the development of machine learning. The potential to create AI machines that learn like human brains have the ability to transform various industries and fields, elevating Australia’s strategic position. With ongoing research and development, this new technology could surpass existing hardware capabilities, ushering in a new era of artificial intelligence.
