Researchers recently secured a substantial $600,000 grant from Australia's Office of National Intelligence to investigate the fusion of human brain cells and artificial intelligence.
Working with Melbourne-based business Cortical Labs, Futurism reported that the team has previously demonstrated encouraging results by allowing 800,000 brain cells in a Petri dish to play "Pong."
Advancing AI-Human Brain Merging
The underlying concept revolves around blending biology with AI, potentially revolutionizing machine learning technologies for applications like self-driving cars, autonomous drones, and delivery robots. The government's investment is geared towards achieving significant advancements in these fields through this innovative research endeavor.
The researchers are making bold claims about their work, expressing confidence that their new technology could eventually surpass the performance of existing purely silicon-based hardware.
Adeel Razi, team leader and associate professor at Monash University, stated in a news release that the implications of this research could extend to a variety of fields, including planning, robotics, advanced automation, brain-machine interfaces, and drug discovery, providing Australia with a significant strategic advantage.
Razi envisions a future where machine intelligence could "learn throughout its lifetime" like human brain cells. This concept would allow AI systems to acquire new skills without discarding old ones and apply their existing knowledge to tackle novel tasks. To investigate this concept of "continual lifelong learning," Razi and his colleagues are cultivating brain cells in a lab dish, utilizing the DishBrain system.
This huge project will undoubtedly take a long time to complete. The company intends to use the money to create AI robots capable of replicating the learning potential of biological neural networks.
Scaling up the hardware and methods to this level would potentially make these AI systems a viable replacement for in silico computing, opening up new possibilities for artificial intelligence research and application.
Modern Laws for Modern Technologies
The DishBrain research project is focused on comprehending the biological mechanisms underlying continuous learning. Razi said they plan to utilize the grant to create AI machines that can emulate the learning capacity of biological neural networks.
In the context of the growing importance of AI, Taipei Times reported that leaders in the field have called on the Australian government to recognize the potential risks associated with AI technology.
Australians For AI Safety, a group of academics and industry leaders, wrote a letter to Minister of Industry and Science Ed Husic, urging him to acknowledge the possibility of catastrophic or existential consequences from AI and to promote "modern laws for modern technologies."
They also emphasize the need to collaborate with the global community in managing these risks, support research into AI safety, and urgently train AI safety auditors to address the imminent demands of the industry.
In response to the concerns raised, Husic stated that using AI safely and responsibly is a global challenge. While acknowledging the enormous potential of AI in various domains, he emphasized the necessity of implementing appropriate safeguards to ensure its safe and responsible application, considering the potential impact on fields like medicine and cybersecurity.
However, some critics believe that Australia has been lagging behind in adequately addressing the safety aspects of AI, contrasting the country's stance with the recognition of AI's risks by organizations like the United Nations.
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