More efficient than AI:

Italy tests biocomputer with brain cells

Experts are certain that future computers will no longer be made of silicon, but of biological material.

(Bild: Jannatul Koraise - stock.adobe.com)

It sounds like science fiction, but it could soon become reality. Organoid intelligence should make it possible for brain cells to drive a biocomputer. It is still a vision, but researchers at the University of Bologna are working on systems in which 3D cultures of human brain cells serve as hardware.

"The research team's approach is about making AI more brain-like. 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 entitled "Artificial intelligence: opportunities and risks" organized at the headquarters of the Italian Space Agency in Rome. The new biocomputers will be able to guarantee enormous performance at very low energy costs.

"Many ethical questions"
"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. We don't yet know how these machines will behave in terms of self-awareness. 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 it," said Anastasio, President of the Minermes Association.

(Bild: APA Pool/dpa/Oliver Berg)

Merging realities
The development of artificial intelligence raises many considerations for future generations who will be born into a world in which AI will be omnipresent. "How will the perception of human limits change? Are we ready to face the ethical, bioethical and social challenges that this entails?" is the question posed by the experts in Rome. Because in the future, we could increasingly see a world in which reality merges with the virtual, in which digital avatars commit crimes and computers lead their own lives.

"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.

A world without borders
Lawyer and jurist Silvia Carosini wondered how the law can be applied in a world without physical borders. "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? In a world in which young people are increasingly isolating themselves, partly due to the misuse of social media, these aspects must also be taken into account in the criminal justice system," emphasized Carosini.