Researchers found that a soft, sticky gel with high water content not only enabled people to play the video game Pong but also helped them enhance their skills over time.
The discovery comes nearly two years after brain cells in a lab were trained to play classic hits from the 1970s, showing signs of intelligence.
Although inspired by this work, the team conducting the recent study clarified that their hydrogel was not considered sentient.
Lead author Dr. Vincent Strong from the University of Reading stated, “We propose that robots possess memory, allowing them to improve performance through experience.”
Strong suggested that this research could simplify the development of neural network algorithms, the foundation of AI systems like chat GPT, which currently mimic biological structures.
Originally released in 1972, Pong was among the early video games where players controlled paddles to hit a ball back and forth to score points.
Strong’s study concentrated on a single-player version of Pong where a paddle moves along one wall of the court to maintain the ball’s movement.
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, where the researchers explained their method of sandwiching an electroactive polymer hydrogel between two plates to simulate playing Pong on a computer system.
By stimulating electrode pairs, the team replicated the movement of the ball in the game court, with the hydrogel’s ion concentration changing to enhance the paddle’s accuracy over time.
Furthermore, Dr. Yoshikatsu Hayashi from the University of Reading, another study author, noted that even simple materials can display complex adaptive behaviors akin to biological systems and advanced AI.
Dr. Brett Kagan, the chief scientific officer at Cortical Labs, emphasized the system’s basic memory capabilities similar to how a riverbed retains memories, aiding in understanding electrical signal transmission improvements.
However, Kagan mentioned that additional research is necessary to confirm whether hydrogels can “learn” and adapt to changing stimulation scenarios.
Source: www.theguardian.com
