To boost the computing power of artificial intelligence (AI), researchers have combined run-of-the-mill machine learning with a sophisticated 3D model of the human brain made of different types of brain tissue grown in the lab.
These miniature models of the brain, known as cerebral organoids or "minibrains," have existed in various forms since 2013. But they've never been harnessed as a way to augment AI.
The new research uses more traditional computing hardware to input electrical data into the organoid and then decipher the organoid's activity to produce an output — so the organoid serves only as the "middle layer" of the computing process.more
