---
title: "Scientists Working on Merging AI With Human Brain Cells"
description: "Researchers just got a $600,000 grant from the Australian government to study ways of merging human brain cells with artificial intelligence."
date: "2023-07-23"
modified: "2023-07-23"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-working-merging-ai-human-brain-cells"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Brain"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "ai"
  - "brain cells"
  - "machine learning"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Working on Merging AI With Human Brain Cells

![Researchers just got a $600,000 grant from the Australian government to study ways of merging human brain cells with artificial intelligence.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/scientists-working-merging-ai-human-brain-cells.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Cortical Labs / Futurism\</em\>*

## Assuming Control

A team of researchers just got a $600,000 grant from Australia's Office of National Intelligence to study ways of merging human brain cells with artificial intelligence.

In collaboration with Melbourne-based startup Cortical Labs, the team has already successfully demonstrated how a cluster of roughly 800,000 brain cells in a Petri dish is [capable of playing a game of "Pong](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/brain-cells-play-pong>)."

The basic idea is to merge biology with AI, something that could forge new frontiers for machine learning tech for self-driving cars, autonomous drones, or delivery robots — or at least that's what the government is hoping to accomplish with its investment.

## In Silico

And the researchers aren't shying away from making some bold claims about their work.

"This new technology capability in the future may eventually surpass the performance of existing, purely silicon-based hardware," said Adeel Razi, team lead and associate profess at Monarch University, in a [statement](<https://www.monash.edu/turner-institute/news-and-events/latest-news/2023-articles/research-to-merge-human-brain-cells-with-ai-secures-national-defence-funding>).

"The outcomes of such research would have significant implications across multiple fields such as, but not limited to, planning, robotics, advanced automation, brain-machine interfaces, and drug discovery, giving Australia a significant strategic advantage," he added.

According to Razi, the tech could allow a machine intelligence to "learn throughout its lifetime" like human brain cells, allowing it to learn new skills without losing old ones, as well as applying existing knowledge to new tasks.

Razi and his colleagues are aiming to grow brain cells in a lab dish called the DishBrain system to investigate this process of "continual lifelong learning."

It's a highly ambitious project that will likely take quite some time to complete.

"We will be using this grant to develop better AI machines that replicate the learning capacity of these biological neural networks," Razi said. "This will help us scale up the hardware and methods capacity to the point where they become a viable replacement for in silico computing."

**More on the research:** *[Researchers Teach Human Brain Cells in a Dish to Play "Pong"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/brain-cells-play-pong>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
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