Will You Become a Computer Before You Die? | Unveiled

<h4>Will You Become a Computer Before You Die?</h4>

Everybody wants to live forever. Or, at least, that’s the main mantra for any near future tech or science project with the quest for immortality at its core. It’s hoped that someday (and someday soon) we will never die… but, for some, the way forward is actually quite simple to follow. Even if the results aren’t exactly what you’d expect.

This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; will you become a computer before you die?

The history of computing is interesting, yes, but also not especially long. While there are various ancient examples with claims toward being the world’s first computers under certain guises - such as the Antikythera Mechanism, dating to the second century BCE - the field only properly started to pick up pace in the mid-twentieth century. Today, though, partway through the twenty-first century, our attention has certainly shifted and in a big way, so that quantum computing is the all new focus. Before long, it seems as though even the fastest computers of today will become irredeemably antiquated. However, thanks to a new study, even quantum computing could soon be trumped and left for dust.

In late February 2023, a research team at Johns Hopkins University released the first details of a fresh and innovative way forward; biocomputing. The question at the heart of this latest work is; could future computers run on human brain cells? The multi-authored paper - published in the journal, “Frontiers in Science” - homes in on what’s called organoid intelligence (or, OI) and asks us, as bizarre as it sounds, to imagine a world beyond even artificial intelligence, AI. 

The suggestion is that, as impressive as AI is, it’s still a long way away from mimicking some of the more complex capabilities of a human brain - such as logic, recognition or creativity. In fact, it might never manage to do so. It can crunch numbers and solve equations far faster than we could ever hope to… but there are certain aspects of our existence where, thankfully, human intelligence still wins out. Therefore, the team at Johns Hopkins propose tapping into those other certain aspects, feeding that data through a next-next-generation computer, and infinitely expanding our potential in doing so.

But, how would it actually work? And what puts the “bio” in a biocomputer? The organoids at the center of these plans are generally explained as miniaturized versions of whatever organ’s being studied - in this case the brain. They’re lab grown masses of complex cells, and therefore they already offer various routes forward in terms of safe and ethical biological study. The brain organoids that Johns Hopkins has been using are made up of some 50,000 individual cells, or more… but, to look at, they’re still only about the size of a dot of ink on the page. Nevertheless, the team is able to manipulate them, to experiment with (and understand) exactly how the human brain functions through them. By some measures, our brains are held to be the most complex single structures in the known universe… but, gradually, we are getting to know them, and organoids are one of our most promising methods.

Efficiency is arguably the brain’s greatest superpower, however. In an accompanying article, Professor Thomas Hartung, one of the team at Johns Hopkins, refers to a cutting edge (but more traditional, non-bio) supercomputer in Kentucky. In groundbreaking news, it actually has managed to exceed “the computational capacity of a single human brain”... but, as Hartung points out, it required one million times more energy to do so. The Kentucky computer is a $600 million facility, covering 6,800 square-feet of land… but the human brain fits inside our skulls, while brain organoids are tiny, tiny representations of all that neuro-power. Where traditional computers demand so much in terms of space and energy, our brains ask very little. And, ultimately, that’s why biocomputing, why any successful bid to convert brain power into computing power, is now so sought after.

The exact vision for the future is, at this moment, unclear… but it’s hoped that we will one day be able to use organoids inside computer systems, to change them forever. In the same Johns Hopkins article, the organoids are referred to as “biological hardware”, further signifying the connection that researchers hope will be made between the organic and the inorganic; between mind and machine. If successful, biocomputers should be much smaller, much more powerful, potentially cheaper to build, and capable of a wider variety of complex tasks - including with things like logic, recognition and creativity. 

Importantly, the suggestion isn’t (at this stage) that it will be our literal brains that are running OI devices. The use of organoids is crucial as it’s these that will act as a bridge between organic life (us) and mechanized information (the computers). Clearly, though, there are a number of further ethical considerations at play, and a number of future directions that these kinds of proposals, models, and experiments could take. First, if organoid-driven biocomputing ever were possible on a large scale, then presumably it could also be possible to build a full brain computer, as well… and it’s easy to imagine that there would be a market for that. On both sides, there are potentially desired outcomes; computers powered directly by any one person’s brain could be immeasurably effective for the user… but, also, for that person whose brain is being used, could biocomputers offer a route toward living forever, as well?

Again, this in itself is not what the Johns Hopkins study has suggested… but it’s an interesting thought to finish on. Because, if you could turn your brain into a computer, would you do it? Or, if you could build a full or part copy of your brain, and turn that into a computer instead, would you? Over the past couple decades, there has been growing talk of mind uploads and digital consciousness as a hypothetical means of keeping someone alive long after their bodies have failed them, but this would be in some ways even more extreme than that. Now, you’d not only be on a computer, you’d be that computer, outright. Your heart may have stopped beating and your eyes may have closed for the final time, but your neural essence would live on. And here we reach that other, often-debated question over brain versus consciousness and being. 

Since the days of Ancient Greece, and certainly since the enlightened times of René Descartes, humankind has pondered our conscious state, and it’s almost always a major talking point whenever we’re thinking about either AI, future technology, or immortality. With AI, we ask things like; can a robot ever truly think like a human being does? With future tech, we debate whether consciousness could ever be captured and preserved? With immortality, there’s the ultimate question of whether any part of us (our consciousness or, perhaps, our soul) survives after we die? So, where do all of those problems fall when we think of biocomputers? The brain may well be the most complex single structure in the known universe, but does that mean that we should then even be thinking of rediverting all that power for purely computational purposes? What’s your verdict?

For now, at what’s still a very early stage in this emerging field, it’s clear that there is reason to be extremely intrigued and excited. In the grand scheme of human history, traditional AI has only just arrived… and yet, if the highest predictions play out, it could soon be usurped by OI, a faster, smarter, and more dynamic evolution. The study and manipulation of brain organoids is what’s leading this particular charge, a discipline made possible by the sheer speed and success of modern medical and biological science. We can now create for ourselves miniature versions of the brain, and work from there. And, quite apart from anything else, this incredible reality means that it’s now easier than ever for scientists to look deeper into certain brain conditions; to understand how and why different brains function.

It wasn’t so long ago that neuroscience in general was a very murky area, and mostly unknown. Scientists of the past may have had inklings as to what the brain was capable of, but it was incredibly difficult for them to explore further. Now, however, we can really put this most vital of our vital organs to the test… to the point where, perhaps soon, our brains (and the cells therein) could be taken from our bodies, to genuinely run the machines that are all around us. The future could then be a very strange time.