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Deep Dive #120/25 attendees

Synthetic Biological Minds

Xenobots, Organoids & Cortical Processors

April 16, 2026Harbour Centre, Vancouver12 required readings
"The fundamental unit of biological agency is the conscious cell."
— William Miller, Cell Biologist

Interactive Explorations

Organoid Timeline

Mid gestation (in dish)

MEA activity; fetal signatures

Learning vs Preference

Cortical neurons playing Pong — accuracy improves. Learning or reinforcement?

Accuracy: 30% — Biological preference?

Computer or Being Vote

DD#12 synthesis: better computer (A) or new potentially sentient being (B)?

Room split — several shifted B→A after organoid limits; assembloids reopened B.

Bioelectric Pattern Store

Levin framing: pattern stored in organoid — but can the entity access it subjectively?

Press store to begin DD#12 memory debate.

Central Question

"What is the minimal substrate for mind?"

Outcome

Upcoming session exploring cognition in non-neural biological substrates—xenobots, anthrobots, organoids, and cortical processors—to determine what they offer as "minds" and a possible source of non-human consciousness.

Key Debates

  • 1Is consciousness fundamental or emergent in biological substrates?
  • 2Can cognition exist without neurons? What does bioelectricity demonstrate?
  • 3At what scale do organoids warrant moral consideration?
  • 4Does bioelectricity provide a unified theory of biological intelligence?
  • 5Are xenobots and anthrobots alive? What does "life" mean in this context?

Required Readings

Cognition All the Way Down 2.0
Chis-Ciure & Levin
Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier
Smirnova et al.
In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience
Kagan et al.
Consciousness and Human Brain Organoids
Kataoka et al.
Collective intelligence: A unifying concept
Fields, Levin et al.
Motile Living Biobots Self-Construct
Gumuskaya et al.
Human neural organoid microphysiological systems
Smirnova et al.
Basal Xenobot transcriptomics
Fields et al.
Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
Anil Seth
Xenobots and Anthrobots | Lex Fridman
Michael Levin
The Collective Intelligence of Morphogenesis
Michael Levin
Neurons in a Dish Learn to Play Pong
IEEE Spectrum

Topics

xenobotsorganoidsbioelectricityconsciousnessethicsbasal-cognition

Stats

Attendance0/25
Duration2 hours
PriceFree
Readings12 items
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