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Are These Neurons Suffering? (The Dark Side of Biocomputing)
What happens when you take 200,000 human brain cells, grow them on a silicon chip, and drop them into the corridors of the 1993 classic Doom?
In this episode, Dylan explores the rise of Synthetic Biological Intelligence. This isn’t a simulation or a metaphor—it’s "Wetware as a Service." From the labs of Cortical Labs in Melbourne to a sudden surge of interest from DARPA and the CIA’s venture capital arm, we are witnessing a transition from silicon to biology that should be science fiction, but isn't.
We dive deep into:
The 20-Watt Revolution: Why a human brain is 1,000,000x more efficient than our best supercomputers.
The Free Energy Principle: How neurons learn to play video games just to make the "flickering lights" of random electricity stop.
The Ethics of "Primitive Suffering": Why some philosophers are calling for a global ban on biocomputing until 2050.
The "Can it Run Doom?" Meme: How an independent developer used a biological API to do in one week what took researchers 18 months.
Is this the solution to the AI energy crisis, or are we building a future we aren't ethically prepared for?
Keep it Curious 🤔
CHAPTERS ⤵
00:00 — Living Human Brain Cells Play DOOM on a Silicon Chip
02:00 — Cortical Labs: The Rise of Synthetic Biological Intelligence
07:55 — The Free Energy Principle: How Neurons Actually Learn
11:37 — The 2022 DishBrain Pong Experiment Explained
12:39 — How Sean Cole Ran DOOM on a Biological API in One Week
17:45 — Why Scientists and Philosophers Want a Global Ban
19:54 — Is it Conscious? The Ethics of Primitive Suffering
26:28 — Why My YouTube Analytics Are Exploding (The Hype Button)
SOURCES ⤵
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87YqSGZDziw
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627322010339
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0896627322008066-fx1_lrg.jpg
https://corticallabs.com/cl1https://youtu.be/yRV8fSw6HaE?si=CuU_ABbHbLgZ2ehi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSEEEXKTuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksLuRoEq6A
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO ⤵ https://youtu.be/nB4evOBWCnc
View all episodes
By Dylan Curious
What happens when you take 200,000 human brain cells, grow them on a silicon chip, and drop them into the corridors of the 1993 classic Doom?
In this episode, Dylan explores the rise of Synthetic Biological Intelligence. This isn’t a simulation or a metaphor—it’s "Wetware as a Service." From the labs of Cortical Labs in Melbourne to a sudden surge of interest from DARPA and the CIA’s venture capital arm, we are witnessing a transition from silicon to biology that should be science fiction, but isn't.
We dive deep into:
The 20-Watt Revolution: Why a human brain is 1,000,000x more efficient than our best supercomputers.
The Free Energy Principle: How neurons learn to play video games just to make the "flickering lights" of random electricity stop.
The Ethics of "Primitive Suffering": Why some philosophers are calling for a global ban on biocomputing until 2050.
The "Can it Run Doom?" Meme: How an independent developer used a biological API to do in one week what took researchers 18 months.
Is this the solution to the AI energy crisis, or are we building a future we aren't ethically prepared for?
Keep it Curious 🤔
CHAPTERS ⤵
00:00 — Living Human Brain Cells Play DOOM on a Silicon Chip
02:00 — Cortical Labs: The Rise of Synthetic Biological Intelligence
07:55 — The Free Energy Principle: How Neurons Actually Learn
11:37 — The 2022 DishBrain Pong Experiment Explained
12:39 — How Sean Cole Ran DOOM on a Biological API in One Week
17:45 — Why Scientists and Philosophers Want a Global Ban
19:54 — Is it Conscious? The Ethics of Primitive Suffering
26:28 — Why My YouTube Analytics Are Exploding (The Hype Button)
SOURCES ⤵
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87YqSGZDziw
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627322010339
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0896627322008066-fx1_lrg.jpg
https://corticallabs.com/cl1https://youtu.be/yRV8fSw6HaE?si=CuU_ABbHbLgZ2ehi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSEEEXKTuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksLuRoEq6A
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO ⤵ https://youtu.be/nB4evOBWCnc