Ever since I first dove into electronics it seemed as through the circuits that we were designing and that have been designed resembling central nervous systems. Busses of parallel and serial traces running throughout the board carrying communications from a signal processor to a microprocessor or something to that effect, deriving a response to the signal, and sending an output or simply arriving at an outcome. Similar to how our senses use our nerves to carry signals to and from our brains to process, compute a reaction, and then send an appropriate output.

Sometimes this computation doesn’t make it all the way to the higher levels of consciousness, like a response to placing your hand on a hot surface, the response is more of a reaction from instinctual processes rather than pondering in your high level thoughts.

We’ve even mimicked that in systems designs, with co-processors and field effect gate arrays where decisions are made without the involvement of the CPU, allowing it to worry about more complex tasks.

It was in the mid 2000’s when I first heard about researchers working on storing data on DNA. That is when the epiphany occurred, and it has only grown since. DNA is naturally digital, doesn’t require energy input to refresh it, and it can store all of humanities currently existing data (33 zettabytes) in a ping pong sized piece of DNA. If stored correctly it can retain that information for decades.

Thats just the tip of the iceberg. Think about organics for a second. Imagine self healing computer systems, that when overheated are able to repair themselves with error correcting in place. Imagine zero degradation in performance over time because the typical things that impact longevity in electronics; heat, static, humidity, and corrosion, wouldn’t affect organics in the same way, and if they did, organics are capable or overcoming short term degradation.

Biological systems are electrical by nature. Bioelectricity literally gives life, life! Following the research of Dr. Michael Levin, we’ve seen groundbreaking insights into how bioelectric signals control cell behavior, growth, and regeneration. These signals orchestrate the complex choreography of cellular activities, guiding development and healing processes. This understanding opens up fascinating possibilities for integrating bioelectric’s into AI systems.

Now, when making the leap into integrating AI with biological systems, the potential is staggering. Consider the ability to train neural networks that are actually neural networks in living cells. These networks would not only be more efficient but also more adaptable. They could evolve, learn, and adapt in ways current AI systems can only hallucinate about.

Bioelectricity will play a crucial role in developing more efficient and sustainable energy systems. Biological organisms have evolved to harness energy in incredibly efficient ways. By mimicking these processes, we could create bio-inspired energy solutions that are both powerful and environmentally friendly.

The convergence of AI and biology is about changing our relationship with machines and the natural world. By harnessing the power of bioelectricity and other biological principles, we can create AI systems that are not only generally smart and more efficient but also more attuned to the complexities of life itself.

The future of AI is not just about more powerful algorithms and faster processors. It’s about looking inward, to the very fabric of life itself, and harnessing the incredible potential that biology offers. By merging the principles of life with the advancements in technology, I believe we will be able to piece together a more sustainable technology future using the most advanced computational system available to us.