- Cortical Labs has successfully trained 200,000 living human neurons to play the 1993 video game Doom.
- The neurons learn through electrical stimulation and feedback rewards, but currently play at a beginner’s skill level.
- This experiment continues the long-running tradition of porting Doom to unconventional platforms, from blockchain networks to pregnancy tests.
- Researchers built a custom platform to interact with the neurons using simple Python commands, accelerating development.
- The system demonstrates neural adaptability, but the cells do not possess human cognition or understand the game.
Melbourne-based startup Cortical Labs has pushed the “Can it run Doom?” challenge to a new biological frontier by training clusters of 200,000 living human brain cells to navigate and shoot in the classic 1993 video game. The team connected the neurons to software that converts gameplay into electrical signals, as shown in a video posted last week.
For decades, Doom has served as an unofficial benchmark for engineers testing novel systems on everything from gut bacteria to blockchain networks. Consequently, the researchers initially relied on improvised low-level code to make their biological system functional.
However, development accelerated dramatically after they built a dedicated platform for high-level interaction. “It took the collaborator, Sean, who wrote Doom, the code for us a few days instead of 18 months,” application scientist Alon Loeffler told Decrypt.
The neurons learn through a reward system, receiving feedback when they correctly aim at or eliminate an enemy. Meanwhile, an AI refines how the game’s information is encoded into the electrical signals sent to the cell cluster.
Loeffler emphasized that the cells are reacting to inputs rather than comprehending the game. “The system doesn’t actually know it’s playing Doom,” he said, noting it requires a completely different programming mentality than traditional computing.
Despite using human-derived neurons, the system lacks structures for higher-order functionality or human cognition. Nevertheless, researchers observe clear evidence of learning and neural adaptability outside the brain.
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