Neuralink: Sky is the limit?
Neuralink Corporation is a neurotechnology company that develops implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). The company deals with groups of experts in areas such as neuroscience, biochemistry, and robotics. Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and eight other partners. Both Neuralink’s aim and mission statement mainly was always portrayed as making devices to treat serious brain diseases in the short term, with the eventual goal of human enhancement, sometimes called transhumanism.
Musk has always been an intriguing character and so are the products he makes; from the Tesla and SpaceX to Neuralink, all of them are classic examples of ubicomp systems and pathbreaking technologies. Neuralink happens to be the most controversial and very interesting one yet. A surgical insertion but ideally an implant through a vein or artery, Musk said the long-term goal is to achieve “symbiosis with artificial intelligence. He believes the device will be “something analogous to a video game, like a saved game situation, where you can resume and upload your last state” and “address brain injuries or spinal injuries and make up for whatever lost capacity somebody has with a chip.
A chip in your brain, a probe in your head; sounds like a Sci-fi more like Will Smith’s I-robot or Keanu Reeves’s Replicas. Ubicomp systems have constantly been evolving every second, from time to time only getting better and upgrading.
Neuralink in my view is the Dead-End as far as Biotechnology is involved. A chip in your head that has probes, that passes electrodes, that controls your body and heals you of course. The possibilities I see compatible with this technology are immense and this is just a glimpse of what happens when artificial intelligence symbiosis with humanity. Imagining this happens is still a big picture that is still hard to comprehend.
Virtual Reality- Metaverse (Virtual World), AI assistant- Siri, Alexa, smart home, smart cars, smartphones, etc; All these are examples of ubicomp technologies that are indirectly connected through wi-fi, satellite, automation, etc. From sitting anywhere and wearing virtual reality gear and taking down notes via a VR-created office desk to turning on a smart bulb or a water sprinkler with a touch on your smartphone, everything is connected.
How is Neuralink related to any of this? As I said everything that comprises technology in the present and the futures are directly or indirectly interlinked. Imagine an AI assistant hardwired directly to your brain, connected via satellite wi-fi, and a single thought can perform actions. This would be revolutionary in terms of changing how people live and perform their daily actions.
· What you can do just by thinking?
- Link your AI to your home automation and control your home appliances by just thinking.
- Send an email by just thinking.
- Your AI can tell you the weather or any other details.
- Your chip can be a wireless data transmitter; medical ID, Driving License, and Certificates; all of these can be displayed when a scanner is held by a respected individual on his screen.
- Control your car; unlock, lock, start, stop, change songs active Navigation.
- Think of a person, a movie, and the call is made via phone, and a movie is played via tv.
- Control your prosthetic limbs or disabilities control devices, you would feel like they are essentially a part of you.
My Pros and Cons of Neuralink would be:
The PROS:
· Increased communication and collaboration between humans and AI
· Increased ability to learn and remember information,
· Enhanced creativity and problem-solving ability,
· Greater connection to the internet and other devices etc.
The CONS:
· Potential for abuse and misuse
· Invasion of privacy.
· Difficulty in removing or repairing chips if they malfunction.
· Increased risk of brain injury or infection.
· High cost of the technology.
The AI thinks too! In terms of health, I see major developments; nano-tech sensors injected into your bloodstream connected to a respective chip implanted in an individual. The benefits would be insane; the sensors would collect details of blood group, haemoglobin levels, Heartrate, blood clots, and any disease or problem can be predicted, this data can be transmitted to the chip which will let the AI process the information and take necessary action. What if covid happened in the future? The chips would instantly report strange microorganism activity in the bloodstream and this would help the scientists understand and monitor every micro change made by the virus even more clearly.
Too much knowledge can be a boon as well as a curse sometimes, the technology as much as it helps facilitate a lifestyle with much more ease can also prove to have an adverse negative impact.
Imagine control over these chips; if everyone were to be implanted with these chips, the authorizer or the government, who knows? They would probably have access to our thoughts, brain activity, conversations, and Details and all of these come under one controversial label-PRIVACY. There would be no privacy at all and any misuse of such technology can lead to a significant fallback for the whole World. What if the AI went rogue?
The way I see it both the positives and negatives are in some way not balanced but if it’s a compromise you are willing to make, it is worth it. I would conclude by saying that the Neuralink chip in the future would play a very revolutionary role in both biomechanical and technical fields.
