Imagine a scenario where a tech company unveils a smartphone containing a biological chip made from lab-grown human neurons. This chip can adapt its internal structure based on user behavior, leading to remarkable efficiency gains.
Melbourne-based Cortical Labs has grown neurons on silicon chips, creating what the company calls “Dishbrain.” The neurons act as the system wiring, connecting different components. Dishbrain even learned to play the arcade game Pong faster than conventional AI systems. And yet, another startup, Koniku, believes their technology, computers made from lab-grown neurons, will revolutionize various industries, including agriculture, healthcare, and airport security.
Historically, we have seen unethical experiments in the past, now add to that a hybrid computer chip that could enable complex reasoning beyond what current AI achieves. Sounds frightening — and it should be.
That’s because there are ethical considerations like using human brain matter, generally known as organoids, in computers, growing neurons from ordinary skin cells using stem cell technologies, and reproducing human cells for energy production, challenging the sanctity of human life while raising concerns about exploitation and dignity. Then, there is the never-ending push to lower living standards and reduce consumption based on an environmental facade benefiting an illegitimate elite.
There is an unsurprising shift in focus from using human innovation to explore outer space to a more alarming proposition—the idea of sacrificing human brains to power energy-starved supercomputers, leading to the automation of “green” governance. It suggests that preserving life may require removing human involvement, reflecting a judgment that humanity cannot achieve justice independently while rejecting the notion of a divine source of justice.
There are recent headlines about a bio-processor that uses 16 human brain organoids and claims to consume significantly less power than traditional digital processors. The overarching idea is that the future lies in building superhuman machines that surpass human control, potentially utilizing humans as fuel.
This extreme approach raises concerns about the ethical implications and potential lack of salvation down this path of innovation. There’s a worry that scientists have overstepped ethical boundaries by using human stem cells to generate energy for AI. It feels like they are playing the role of a creator rather than a steward of technology.
Their logic leads straight to one conclusion: Without man, God, or nature to save us, our only hope, our duty, is to be found in building machines.
Historically, unethical experiments have taken place, such as the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and other wartime activities. While contemporary ethical frameworks and regulatory bodies are in place to ensure that scientific research and experimentation uphold fundamental ethical standards and respect for human dignity and rights, using stem cells derived from human embryos or fetuses raises ethical considerations questioned by these commissions.
Intentionally reproducing these cells in a laboratory environment to produce energy raises concerns about the sanctity of human life, the potential exploitation of human biological material, and questions surrounding the dignity and rights of the individuals from whom they derived the cells. Additionally, the consequences of manipulating and reproducing human cells for non-medical or non-therapeutic purposes violate ethical boundaries and societal values.
What could go wrong?
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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