Human brain cells outpace artificial intelligence in ping pong
Frame: New Scientist / YouTube
Cortical Labs created a mini-brain and taught its cells to play virtual ping-pong. This is reported by the New Scientist edition.
In their experiment, scientists used about a million living brain cells. They were placed in a Petri dish, a transparent vessel to which microelectrodes were connected. As a result, the mini-brain was able to play a ping-pong simulator, and was ahead of artificial intelligence in this.
To demonstrate the capabilities of a synthetic brain based on living cells, scientists have created a simplified version of the Pong simulator, in which you have to hit a ball off the wall with a virtual racket. The neurons of the cells responded to the behavior of the ball and placed the racket correctly in order to hit it.
Leading researcher at Cortical Labs Brett Kagan said that although the mini-brain lost in the simulator to a living person, it demonstrated outstanding learning abilities. If artificial intelligence needs several thousand approaches to teach the game, then the brain synthesized by scientists mastered Pong in five to ten games.
Kagan noted that it is appropriate to call the collection of cells “the brain of a cyborg”, since in the future it will be possible to create biorobots capable of learning.
In April, Elon Musk's startup Neuralink showed a chipped monkey playing video games. The animal successfully moved objects on the screen in Pong with its mind.
