Cortical Labs Trains Neurons to Play Doom

Australian biotech company Cortical Labs has achieved a milestone in biological computing by training a cluster of human brain cells to play the classic video game Doom, demonstrating advances in interfacing living neurons with digital systems. The experiment, showcased in a recent company video, builds on earlier work and highlights the potential for neurons to handle complex, real-time tasks.

The demonstration uses Cortical Labs' CL1 system, a microchip-based biological computer featuring around 200,000 living human neurons grown on a multi-electrode array. This setup allows the neurons to receive electrical signals from a computer and send responses that serve as inputs for the game. Unlike traditional silicon processors, the CL1 integrates biological elements to process information through neural activity.

Cortical Labs first gained attention in 2022 when it trained a larger culture of 800,000 to one million neurons to play the simpler arcade game Pong, a process that took 18 months of development. Doom, released in 1993, introduces far greater complexity with its three-dimensional mazes, enemies, weapons, and need for exploration and decision-making. To enable the neurons...