Australian researchers say they have grown brain cells in a lab that have learned to play the vintage video game Pong. In addition, it took a surprisingly short time for the “mini-brain” created by the scientists to understand the game and start improving. How is this possible and what might it mean for the future of artificial intelligence? Read on to find out.
1
Is this the first sentient artificial brain?
BBC News reported that the “mini-brain” created by the researchers can sense and respond to its environment. in the newspaper Neuron, Dr. Brett Kagan says his team has created the first “feeling” brain grown in a lab. “We couldn’t think of a better term to describe the device,” Kagan said. “It’s able to take information from an external source, process it and then respond to it in real time.”
Introduced in 1972, Pong was the first home video game. Two players hit a ball back and forth, like in a tennis match. The simplicity of the game led the scientists to choose it for this experiment.
2
What is a mini-brain?
The mini-brains were first produced in 2013 to study microcephaly, a genetic disorder where the brain is abnormally small. The video game experiment is the first time they have connected and interacted with an external environment, the BBC reports.
In the experiment, the researchers grew human brain cells from stem cells and mouse embryos into a mini-brain made up of 800,000 cells. They connected the mini-brain to Pong via electrodes that indicated which side the ball was on and how far it was from the paddle. By “watching” the video game, the cells produced electrical activity, the scientists said, which gave the cells feedback about whether they were hitting the ball or not.
3
He learned Pong in five minutes
The researchers said the mini-brain learned to play the game within five minutes. He often lost the ball, but his connection speed was above chance. (The scientists noted that because the mini-brain had no consciousness, it didn’t know it was playing a video game, as a human would.)
The story continues
4
Mini-Brain continued to learn and improve
Over time, the mini-brain was less likely to miss a shot and was able to engage in longer and longer rallies. The cells played 486 games, and the researchers tested their reaction to the stimuli or the absence of them. In some games, the cells received feedback, so they knew how their behavior affected the environment. In other games, they were given no feedback. Cells that were given feedback learned from it.
5
The hope is to help dementia research
The researchers will then test the cells’ reaction to alcohol. Kagan said she hopes the research will one day help treat neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. “When people look at tissues in a dish, at that moment they are seeing whether there is activity or not. But the purpose of brain cells is to process information in real time,” he said. “Harnessing its true function unlocks many more areas of research that can be comprehensively explored.”