More efficient than AI Italy tests biocomputers with brain cells
It sounds like science fiction, but it could soon become reality: Organoid intelligence should make it possible for brain cells to power a biocomputer.
10.11.2024, 19:24
SDA
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- Cultures of human brain cells are set to power biocomputers in the future. Researchers at the University of Bologna are working on this.
- The biocomputers will be structured in such a way that they resemble the synapses of the human brain.
- The aim, given that AI consumes vast amounts of energy, is to enable the new systems to achieve enormous performance at very low energy costs.
It is still a vision, but researchers at the University of Bologna are working on computer systems in which 3D cultures of human brain cells serve as hardware. The research team's approach is all about making AI more brain-like. The experts expect that the new biocomputers will be able to guarantee enormous performance at very low energy costs.
"How artificial intelligence can develop in the future and even achieve possible self-awareness are questions that we will have to deal with more and more frequently in the future," emphasized Claudio Anastasio, an expert in neural networks and artificial intelligence, at a conference organized at the headquarters of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in Rome.
Future computers will no longer be made of silicon, but of biological material. They will be structured in such a way that they resemble the synapses of the human brain. "In a few years' time, people will have to grapple with the concept of artificial self-awareness. Because there are many ethical questions associated with this," said Anastasio.
Laws for a merging world
The development of artificial intelligence raises many considerations for future generations who will be born into a world where AI will be ubiquitous. How will the perception of human limits change? Are we ready to face the ethical, bioethical and social challenges that this will bring? are the questions posed by the experts in Rome. Because in the world of the future, reality could merge with the virtual, digital avatars could commit crimes and computers could take on a life of their own.
"AI offers amazing possibilities, especially for medicine and neuroscience, but its use in the healthcare sector and the possible legal consequences in the event of a medical error are issues that will keep experts very busy in the coming years," said Italian neurologist Maria Grazia Marciani, President of the Ethics Committee of the Lazio Region.
According to the neurologist, AI enables fast and precise diagnoses. But here too, there are many unforeseeable scenarios that are not yet regulated by law. Much of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure will soon have to be revised to take account of the completely new situations that artificial intelligence brings with it.
Lawyer and jurist Silvia Carosini wonders how the law can be applied in a world without physical boundaries. For example, if in the future an avatar commits a crime that would be considered sexual assault in the real world, who would be responsible? Such aspects must also be taken into account in the criminal justice system, Carosini emphasized.
