Video Summary
Cortical Labs' CL1 uses ~200,000 lab-grown human neurons to control a Doom demo, continuing experiments that began with Dishbrain.
AI's surging energy demands motivate interest in biologically powered computing because brains run on far less power (~20 watts).
Training neurons relies on making signals predictable (reducing 'surprise'); much of the system's intelligence still lives on the supporting chip.
Companies now rent access to living neuron cultures, claiming huge energy savings — but biological components currently add only a small functional contribution.
Major ethical questions remain: could cells in these systems have subjective experiences, and how should research be regulated?
CL1 is Cortical Labs' experimental system that spreads ~200,000 lab-grown human neurons across an electrode array; their activity is mapped to game controls so predictable versus scrambled signals correspond to successful or failed actions, producing gameplay without a human controller.
Researchers exploit neurons' tendency to avoid unpredictable 'surprise' signals. In Dishbrain-style setups, scrambled noise follows failures while calm signals follow success; the cells adapt to reduce unpredictability, which appears as improved task performance.
Currently, most of the observable 'smarts' come from the supporting hardware and software. Whether the neurons experience feelings or awareness is unresolved and hotly debated—scientists caution that task performance doesn't prove consciousness.
Some companies claim dramatic energy savings (marketing cited up to a million-fold), and biology is intrinsically energy-efficient (human brains use ~20 W). But today the biological element contributes only a small functional piece, so widespread energy gains remain speculative.
Key concerns include the possibility of subjective experience in cultured human cells, consent and provenance of donor cells, commodification or remote renting of living tissue, and the moral status of experimental configurations that may inflict stress to 'train' cells.
Yes—cultured human neural tissue and organoids could model disease biology and lower reliance on animal models, offering research advantages, but ethical safeguards and better understanding of consciousness in these systems are necessary first.
"You're looking at a computer in a laboratory called Cortical Labs. It's playing Doom without anyone controlling it; the computer is running on living human brain cells."
Cortical Labs has developed an experimental computer that uses living human brain cells to function, effectively allowing these cells to engage in a video game, Doom, without human input.
"AI uses a massive amount of electricity, and that number keeps going up. The computing power needed for training models roughly doubles every six months."
"The brain figured this out a long time ago. Everything you're thinking runs on about 20 watts."
"Back in 2008, researchers grew a sheet of rat neurons and hooked it up to a little robot. The cells actually drove it around."
"Cortical Labs put together something they called Dishbrain, which included about 800,000 neurons, part mouse and part human, and taught them to play Pong."
"It's amazing, and it kind of makes me sick. This computer came from a real person; it's literally made of human cells."
"When Cortical Labs published the Pong work, the title used a heavy word. It said the neurons showed sentience."
"Almost all of the actual smarts are on the chip, not in the cells."
"The cells aren't just for show; they're adding a small but real piece to the function of the computer."
The current state of biocomputing involves traditional computers performing most functions, with living cells contributing a minimal role.
Despite their small contribution, the biological component in computational systems is anticipated to expand significantly as research progresses.
"A Swiss company called Final Spark rents out living human neurons over the internet."
Companies like Final Spark have emerged, allowing researchers to run experiments on living human neurons remotely, creating a subscription-based service for biocomputing.
Their marketing emphasizes energy efficiency, claiming that these living chips utilize significantly less power—up to a million times less—compared to conventional computing chips.
"Being smart was never the scary part; being smart and being awake are two different things."
There is a critical distinction between intelligence (the ability to solve problems) and consciousness (the ability to feel), suggesting that smart cells may not necessarily indicate awareness or sentience.
Neuroscientist Mark Solms posits that feeling arises from fundamental survival drives rather than higher intelligence, emphasizing that the emergence of awareness likely predates complex thought.
"If Solms is right, that drive isn't just close to feeling; it might be where feeling actually starts."
Solms' theories invite a reconsideration of evolutionary biology, proposing that simple living organisms operated on basic instincts and feelings long before developing sophisticated cognitive abilities.
The mechanisms through which these neural cells are trained indicate that early patterns of success and failure may teach them a form of emotional response, establishing a basis for further inquiry into consciousness in lab-grown neurons.
"We can barely spot it in each other; how can we expect to identify it in a clump of cells?"
The difficulty arises in recognizing consciousness when traditional assessments fail to detect awareness in individuals who appear unresponsive, as illustrated by cases where patients deemed vegetative showed signs of awareness through brain activity.
This raises further skepticism about our ability to recognize or measure potential consciousness in biological computations derived from human cells.
"It could help us finally understand diseases and replace a lot of animal testing."
The implications of this research are vast, providing opportunities to understand various diseases and potentially revolutionizing the methodologies used in scientific experimentation.
The evolving understanding of consciousness, whether in living cells or more complex structures, could have transformative effects on how humanity perceives and interacts with biological entities in the future.
