I know about the recent stuff using DNA as a storage medium. I am interested in writing a story where humans have mastered everything Evolution has to offer; a time when technology is completely integrated into a vivarium/Bioregenerative Life Support System like ecosystem on multiple levels.
I’m looking for references to better speculate about organic compute as a complete replacement for silicon in a very distant future.
There is no real comparison with present computers like this. Humans are massively parallel in operations. Present CPU architectures need the speed because they handle a tiny amount of data per cycle.
The primary bottleneck is the L2 to L1 cache bus width. This is one of the main bottlenecks that makes the CPU perform poorly with large language models.
If you remove such bottlenecks and let everything happen at once and start using analogue computational elements for neural networks, the needs shift entirely. The speed requirement is specific to the technology/efficiency/scale. The human brain is orders of magnitude more energy efficient than silicon. It has its issues, but it has too many advantages for sustainability long term. It is the ultimate self replicating recyclable machine.
In a properly designed vivarium, a system could only require cyclical sunlight for powering a self sustained computational unit on geological time scales, assuming all respective lifeforms were fully understood scientifically.
“I speak of none but the computer that is to come after me,” intoned Deep Thought, his voice regaining its accustomed declamatory tones. “A computer whose merest operational parameters I am not worthy to calculate—and yet I will design it for you. A computer that can calculate the Question to the Ultimate Answer, a computer of such infinite and subtle complexity that organic life itself shall form part of its operational matrix. And you yourselves shall take on new forms and go down into the computer to navigate its ten-million-year program! Yes! I shall design this computer for you. And I shall name it also unto you. And it shall be called…the Earth.”