An Australia intelligence agency is funding research attempting to merge artificial intelligence with human brain cells.
The funding from the Australia National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants Program will go to research being conducted by the Monash University and Cortical Labs.
According to The Guardian, "Research into merging human brain cells with artificial intelligence has received a $600,000 grant from defense and the Office of National Intelligence (ONI)."
Last year, the research team created a "DishBrain" – a "semi-biological computer chip with some 800,000 human and mouse brain cells lab-grown into its electrodes," according to New Atlas. The DishBrain utilizes lab-cultivated neurons from human stem cells.
The scientists were able to train the brain cells to play the classic video game "Pong."
Some experts contend that the brain-powered Biological Intelligence Operating System is the future of AI because it is self-programming, requires less memory, conserves energy, and can learn throughout its lifetime like human brain cells.
Adeel Razi, the project's lead and associate professor from Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health explained, "The outcomes of such research would have significant implications across multiple fields such as, but not limited to, planning, robotics, advanced automation, brain-machine interfaces, and drug discovery, giving Australia a significant strategic advantage,"
"We will be using this grant to develop better AI machines that replicate the learning capacity of these biological neural networks," he continued. "This will help us scale up the hardware and methods capacity to the point where they become a viable replacement for in silico computing."
TechCrunch reported in April that Cortical Labs received $10 million in funding – including from the investment arm of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
The tech outlet reported, "It’s now raised a $10 million funding round led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from LifeX (Life Extension) Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Radar Ventures and In-Q-Tel (the venture arm of the CIA)."
The outlet described Cortical Labs as combing "synthetic biology and human neurons to develop what it claims is a class of AI, known as 'Organoid Intelligence' (OI)."
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