Organoid Intelligence (OI) and the Human Embryo Nightmare

Video and Prepublication Draft, Győr, Hungary

Hello, I wanted to share my work on organoid intelligence and bioethical concerns that I presented at the recent conference held in Fr. Stanley Jaki’s honor in his hometown, Győr, Hungary. The abstract and a video presentation are below, along with a transcript of the video. Paid subscribers may access the prepublication draft of the manuscript (at the end of this post). I’ve catalogued this post with my other IVF work, but it is an issue that also overlaps with my interest in bioethics and Fr. Stanley Jaki’s teaching. Thanks for reading!

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Abstract: In Savior of Science, Fr. Stanley L. Jaki comments on a 1987 article in Nature journal by Erwin Chargaff (204–207) titled, “Engineering a molecular nightmare.” Chargaff’s concern was that reproductive technologies carry “all manner of threats to the dignity of human life” because since the first “test tube” baby in 1978, the world saw a concomitant increase in the number of hu-man embryos living suspended in cryogenic tanks. Scientists were already eyeing these tiny humans for research and experimentation. Chargaff likened it to the coming of a “gigantic slaughterhouse, a molecular Auschwitz.” As dire as Chargaff’s warning, Jaki criticized Chargaff for noting the nightmare yet failing to fully appreciate the implications of such monstrosity. Chargaff himself was a Jew who emigrated to the United States during the Nazi regime, yet he sidestepped any strong admonishment because he was a scientist and not a philosopher. This paper will reconsider Chargaff’s prediction and Jaki’s criticism in light a new technology on the modern horizon, that of organoid intelligence (OI). This is an emerging field that seeks to build computing systems using lab-grown tissues that function like the human brain as its hardware. These systems are predicted by scientists to not only help solve the energy needs for artificial intelligence (AI) but also to allow a deeper study of human consciousness. With millions of abandoned human IVF embryos in cryogenic storage tanks, it seems likely that scientists will find use for them in the new field of organoid intelligence.

Paid subscribers may download the prepublication draft at the link below.