Lab grown brain cells learn to play "Pong"

Scientists have used a previously established way of growing a cluster of braincells from human stem cells and mouse embryos-up to 800 000-to create a sort of mini brain,which this time they plugged into the computer game Pong,via electrodes.
The "brain" learned pretty fast-5 minutes they say.

Researchers have grown brain cells in a lab that have learned to play the 1970s tennis-like video game, Pong,
They say their "mini-brain" can sense and respond to its environment.
Writing in the journal Neuron, Dr Brett Kagan, of the company Cortical Labs, claims to have created the first ''sentient'' lab-grown brain in a dish.
Other experts describe the work as ''exciting'' but say calling the brain cells sentient is going too far.
"We could find no better term to describe the device,'' Dr Kagan says.
''It is able to take in information from an external source, process it and then respond to it in real time."

That sounds like sentience to me-the cluster of cells is able to "experience"and react.
Wouldn't that mean that there is some degree of consciousness involved?
I would say yes-but the researchers disagree:

The mini-brain learned to play in five minutes.
It often missed the ball - but its success rate was well above random chance.
Although, with no consciousness, it does not know it is playing Pong in the way a human player would, the researchers stress.

www.bbc.com...

If there is no consciousness present-are the brain cells reacting to the computer game as though it is other cells maybe-kind of trying to connect or "communicate"resulting in cells doing something(changing electrical activity to move the game paddle) which looks like it is aware to some degree?

They say the mini brains will be used for testing ways to fix degenerative brain diseases,which is great and I hope it works.
Could it go further and in the future be used to help people with traumatic brain injuries "re grow" damaged areas?

I wonder if this tech may one day lead to a biological/grown form of A.I.-this technology may end up being way ahead of traditional computers.
In an extreme dystopian future-maybe folks will look back and see the mini brain research as the genesis of Replicants like those in Bladerunner.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Literally just read about that.

The potential implications are truly MASSIVE.

Seems to be quite a leading claim they're making here.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

That sounds like sentience to me-the cluster of cells is able to "experience"and react. Wouldn't that mean that there is some degree of consciousness involved? I would say yes-but the researchers disagree:

It’s possible this is already going around. I’ve hear about human clones. Apparently some people believe there are people walking around with no soul. I didn’t think much of it but I really wonder.
If you look at a lot of the celebrities you can see they eyes are dim, there is no sparkle, no soul.

Lab grown brain cells learn to play "Pong"

This is how we get the Planet of the Apes.

Now.

Get your damn dirty hands off me( fill in the blank).

a reply to: Silcone Synapse
Seems to me that a rather pertinent question to ask our selves here is not so much does this experiment suggest the presence of consciousness rather than just stimulus response mechanisms but instead, how much of what we consider to be consciousness in ourselves is real consciousness and not just a more complex degree of stimulus/response mechanisms.

Its pretty fascinating being able to use stem cells to grow into any part of the body,they have made stuff like working kidney and liver cells,skin and this working mini brain.
Its looking like in the near future they will be able to grow personalised organs from stem cells for transplants-making the lifelong immune surpressent drugs no longer needed and giving transplant patients far better outcomes.
That is awesome enough.

Although I bet shady scientists are up to all sorts with this kind of stuff in deep underground black labs especially in countries who have little to no ethics or morals in their leadership,which is pretty much all of them.

Imagine if they could steer the growth of a brain in order for it to express amplified characteristics-a super sentient mega brain kind of thing-maybe they could get it working on inventing anti grav or wormhole travel.
I was also wondering is it yet possible to quantuum entangle a whole cell to another?
Then they could grow two brains from those OG entangled cells,and maybe unlock some high level telepathic secrets or other cool stuff.

"Learning" requires abstract thought processes. The implications are endless and delves into the metaphysical, especially if the "minibrain" is self aware and sentient.

Thanks for the inspiration.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Might as well be consciousness. Rudimentary processing of stimuli and ability to react. That's definitely the intelligence level of simple invertebrate animals.

That's cool, may show cognition is an emergent thing. A product of neurons. Those electrodes may as well have been sensory organs.

As an opponent of consciencsiouness as a force of nature, I love that science can create a simple brain to do simple things. Gives credence to the position there is no consciousness or being without material cells.

And the sci-fi nerd in me wants them to make an android with a human brain.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Pong today, Call of Duty tomorrow.

Because that’s what ALWAYS happens with technology like this.

So if it's not sentient how did it learn what the objective of the game is?

Do the electrodes shock it when it misses? How in the first place would a non-sentient, unprogrammed, bio-mass with no intelligence learn to manipulate the paddles? It can't even see the ball or paddles.

I'll read into it later, but those are my initial questions.

eta

Just read it. Still would like more information on this.

What incentive does this mini brain have to play the game, or even learn it in the first place? Wouldn't a non-sentient/non-concious lump of brain cells just be that? A lump? Wonder what would happen if they connected lab grown ears and eyes to it.

I mean honestly. Is it not just a brain with no way to interact without outside stimulus? Is this really any different than just cloning an animal just sans everything but the brain?

It's a brain, albeit a very simple one.

There are more ethical questions concerning this type of technology than there are for AI programs.

Hell, with neural technology they could just clone a human and bar it from gaining it's own personality and thoughts and inject a fake personality and fake thoughts into it. Maybe even an AI program, or possibly even the stored memories and personality of a nearly dead human at some point in the near future.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

DR Frankenstein would be proud. As far as myself, I see this as horrific.