Would a biological interface be of any use in a computer?
Would a computer using biological components as an interface be any good? Would that protect it against hacking? Or provide more complex processing?
The way I'm going with this is that computers are at risk of getting hacked when they connect to the network. However as I understand biological computers AKA brains cannot be hacked like computers. So would using neurons to transmit and translate information between the processor and the transmitter/receiver get rid of the risk of a virus getting through? Sure neurons are much slower in terms of computational speed and may not have time to recover between actions, but would that interface provide any protection? If it doesn't then what would be a good alternative?
Also can using biological components provide some other advantage to a computer, like flexibility or better pattern recognition? Or would it be too much of a nuisance to be any help?
Edit: Thank you for your answers. This has been very informative.
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2 answers
Would a computer using biological components as an interface be any good?
Also can using biological components provide some other advantage to a computer, like flexibility or better pattern recognition?
The Terminator movie series gives a tangible example of where biological components (i.e., living skin) could be utilized, albeit not for the betterment of mankind. It's certainly conceivable.
Biological entities are generally able to reproduce, so biological components could plausibly self-improve over time.
In computer gaming, it's often more interesting to play against humans, so a biological AI might be interesting for gaming (and may even have military applications).
As another point along these lines: 3D-printed organs.
Would that protect it against hacking?
So would using neurons to transmit and translate information between the processor and the transmitter/receiver get rid of the risk of a virus getting through?
It would introduce a lot of incompatibilities, so things like today's computer viruses and trojans would not be useful. But if it's possible to create a computer-biological interface, and a hacker has access to it, then it's plausible to trick the computer in some way.
If it were like a human brain, then they're already able to be manipulated in various ways.
Or provide more complex processing?
This is plausible. Brains have abilities that computers generally don't have, such as the ability to learn from experience. But they also make mistakes.
If it doesn't then what would be a good alternative?
The only real way to prevent hacking is to isolate the computer, such as with missile launch systems. And even then, it might still be physically hackable if someone were to do so in person.
Or would it be too much of a nuisance to be any help?
It's hard to say. E.g., if a brain could be hotwired to perform computations, it might massively outperform a pure computer and have benefits such as learning and growth (but it's a big "if").
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No.
The best protection is air-gapping; don't allow untrusted information into the system in the first place. The next best protection is to thoroughly vet incoming information. This may take the form of requiring incoming information to conform to a very specific format that minimizes the potential attack space. (It's a pity Roland Hughes, AFAIK, isn't part of the community; he has a ton of interesting stories in this area.)
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