Where is Elon Musk Headed with Neuralink?
The news is in! Elon Musk is all set to do what has been unimaginable throughout the existence of human civilization. He is geared up to enter our minds with the company he founded — Neuralink. Yes, you read it correct — Elon Musk’s company has its path cleared to make cyborgs a reality while we are alive.
What is Neuralink’s implant?
Neuralink is company that was founded by the billionnaire, Elon Musk, and it has developed an electronic device that can be implanted inside the brain of a creature, which helps the creature to interact with computers just with the application of thought. The device is called Brain-Computer Implant (BCI) and it requires an intricate surgical process administered by a robot, wherein the BCI is placed in that specific region of the brain that is responsible for the intent to move. This basically translates to enabling a human with an implant deep inside the body that can help it to control computers just by thinking.
We can’t say that this is the first electronic device to be embedded in a human. Pacemakers have already been performing quite well for the cardiac patients, and are electronic implants in every possible way we can imagine. However, Neuralink’s BCI takes the bar far higher by enabling an internal part of the body communicate with a device outside the body. The inherent intelligence in that device is certainly impressive.
Why are we implanting the BCI?
The immediate purpose of the Neuralink’s BCI is to enable the paralyzed humans to interact with computers and to work with machines in a natural way. The company has gained approval for conducting human trials with the people who are paralyzed either due to spinal cord injuries or due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It is hoped that the BCI will eventually enable paralyzed people to regain control of their movements too. The initial permission as sought for conducting trials on 10 patients, but they had to reportedly settle for a smaller number of participants after negotiations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA). The company has also assured that it had secured approval from an independent review board for commencing testing of the implants in people suffering from paralysis, initially to test both safety and functionality of the device.
Musk has said before that the purpose of the implant is not limited to just paralysis-related issues, but also to influence other problems such as obesity, schizophrenia, autism and depression. Moreover, the device intends to increase people’s ability in the future to interact with AI by several orders of magnitude. Musk has said that he looks at Neuralink Brain Computer Interface as a way to mitigate the civilizational risk that we face due to the rising powers of AI. By having humans better interact with AI and machines, it will be possible to allay the fears we have with regards to AI.
Is it safe?
Well, to start with, FDA has given a clearance to Neuralink. And the company also claims safety of the BCI for humans. However, there have been allegations against Neuralink that some of the animals that had been a part of the past trials had died in the process, which raises questions on whether the humans participating in the trial will also face the same consequence. Musk has denied the allegations saying that all animals survived, though some were “close to death” during the process.
However, some documents apparently contradict this claim by Musk and reveal a range of health issues that some monkeys suffered after receiving the implant. This included infections, paralysis, brain swelling, seizures, and bloody diarrhea, before they were euthanized.
What’s next?
It is yet to be seen how Neuralink’s BCI transforms the human civilization and makes it get along well with AI and machines. Whether we will have a fearsome technology, or we will be fine becoming cyborgs — that’s yet to be seen too. However, we can say with certainty that Elon Musk and his company, Neuralink are transforming the way we imagine human computer interaction. Let’s see how this pans out.
