A major scientific advancement or a real-life mad scientist experiment? Researchers have successfully enabled neuron-powered computer chips to play the classic first-person shooter game, “Doom.” The achievement marks a significant step forward in the emerging field of biological computing, exploring the potential of living cells as information processors.
A new kind of gamer emerged this week when independent developer Sean Cole used the Python programming language to teach the neural chips to play “Doom” in about a week. Cole built upon the work of Australian company Cortical Labs, which in 2021 developed a network of over 800,000 living brain cells grown on microelectrode arrays capable of sending and receiving electrical signals. At the time, Cortical Labs painstakingly trained the system to play “Pong,” a rudimentary early video game.
“Researchers had to carefully train the chips to control the paddles on either side of the screen,” notes New Scientist.
Five years later, substantial progress has been made: Cortical Labs has developed a simplified interface for its chips, allowing the use of Python, the most widely used programming language. “Unlike the work on ‘Pong’ that we did a few years ago, which represented years of painstaking scientific effort, this demonstration with ‘Doom’ has been done in a matter of days by someone who previously had relatively little expertise working directly with biology,” explains Brett Kagan of Cortical Labs. This accessibility could accelerate innovation in the field.
“‘Doom’ is far more complex than previous attempts and successfully interacting with this game highlights real progress in how living neuronal systems can be controlled and trained,” says Andrew Adamatzky of the University of West of England, in Bristol, UK, as quoted by New Scientist.
Is this a step toward hybridizing human and machine intelligence? Brett Kagan cautions, “it’s alive and biological, but actually, we’re using it as a material capable of processing information in a very specific way, which People can’t reproduce with silicon.”
However, Steve Furber, of the University of Manchester, adds, “We still don’t know a lot about how these neurons work, including how they know what’s expected of them or how they can ‘see’ the screen without eyes.”
And Adamatzky concludes, “What’s exciting is not just that a biological system can play Doom, but that it can handle complexity, uncertainty, and real-time decision-making.”
