Researchers Get Human Brain Cells Running Doom

"The amazing aspect is how quickly it learns, in five minutes, in real time. That's really an amazing thing that biology can do. So we showed that biological neurons could play the game Pong. This was a massive milestone because it demonstrated adaptive, real-time, goal-directed learning."

"Doom was much more complex. It's 3D. It has enemies. It needs to explore, its an environment, and it's hard. To adapt the 33-year-old video game and allow the CL1 to run it, the company had to translate the digital world of Doom into the biological language of neurons, which is electricity."

Cortical Labs, an Australian biotech startup, has demonstrated that living human brain cells cultured in a petri dish can learn to play Doom, a significantly more complex three-dimensional video game than Pong. The company's CL1 biological computer represents a major advancement in biocomputing technology. The breakthrough required translating Doom's digital environment into electrical stimulation patterns that neurons can process and respond to. This achievement showcases adaptive, real-time, goal-directed learning capabilities in biological systems. The progression from Pong to Doom demonstrates substantial technological progress over four years, with the mini-brain system successfully navigating a complex environment with enemies and exploration requirements.

Read at Futurism