Swiss scientists use human mini-brains to power computers

Inside a lab in the picturesque Swiss town of Vevey, a scientist gives tiny clumps of human brain cells the nutrient-rich fluid they need to stay alive.

- DANIEL LAWLER

(PHOTO: APP)

It is vital these mini-brains remain healthy, because they are serving as rudimentary computer processors — and unlike your laptop, once they die, they cannot be rebooted.

This new field of research, called biocomputing or “wetware”, aims to harness the evolutionarily honed yet still mysterious computing power of the human brain.

During a tour of Swiss startup Final-Spark’s lab, co-founder Fred Jordan told AFP he believes that processors using brain cells will one day replace the chips powering the artificial intelligence boom.

The supercomputers behind AI tools like ChatGPT currently use silicon semiconductors to simulate the neurons and networks of the human brain.

“Instead of trying to mimic, let's use the real thing,” Mr Jordan said.

Among other potential advantages, biocomputing could help address the skyrocketing energy demands of AI, which have already threatened climate emissions targets and led some tech giants to resort to nuclear power.

“Biological neurons are one million times more energy efficient than artificial neurons,” Mr Jordan said. They can also be endlessly reproduced in the lab, unlike the massively in-demand AI chips made by companies like behemoth Nvidia.

But for now, wetware’s computing power is a very long way from competing with the hardware that runs the world.