The Biological Computing Company is experimenting with an innovative technology that combines living neurons and electronic chips, with the aim of developing what is known as “biological computing” and taking advantage of the brain’s working mechanisms to enhance artificial intelligence tools.
This technology relies on growing live neurons extracted from the brains of mice, along with cells derived from human stem cells, on silicone strips equipped with arrays of microelectrodes. These electrodes stimulate the cells with various patterns and pulses, while recording their response and activity in real time to enable researchers to understand the ways in which information is processed within these cells.
After monitoring and analyzing neural activity, researchers work to convert it into digital data to develop software tools that mimic the efficiency of biological processing, to be integrated and later trained within artificial intelligence models. This idea does not mean that the mouse brain directly operates the artificial intelligence model, but rather it is limited to simulating the way living cells process information. Data such as images are encoded and sent through the electrodes to monitor response, with the company initially focusing on video generation due to the ease of representing and processing visual information via the current electrode arrangement.
On the performance front, the company claimed that its neural activity-based model outperformed up to five times faster than an open source AI model it used for comparison, as well as lowering operating costs. However, these results remain the company’s own without revealing the name of the competing model, making the final judgment on the superiority of biological computing too early. The technology recently became available in a limited preview to some Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers to test it on a larger scale.
Unlike traditional artificial intelligence systems that simulate neural networks through mathematical operations on electronic chips, biological computing seeks to directly benefit from the natural capabilities of neurons to produce systems that are more energy efficient and perform tasks.
However, this technology is still in its early stages and faces serious challenges, most notably maintaining the vitality and stability of cells, monitoring their activity, and converting their signals into usable data, in addition to proving the sustainability of its efficiency as tasks become more complex and their scope expands, according to a report by the “WIRED” website. Accordingly, the matter is not currently about producing a “computer made from a mouse brain,” but rather an experimental path that integrates living cells with chips and artificial intelligence, which may draw new features for the future of computing if researchers prove its feasibility and succeed in developing it.
