Wrapping My Mind Around Neuralink
It was August 28th, 2020. I tuned into a live-stream hosted by the innovative Elon Musk. He stood in front of an illuminated blue curtain, tightly gripping his microphone. One of his hands were buried in his coat pocket. He shifted his weight back and forth, looking for anywhere to focus. He scrambled for the right words, trying to articulate his brilliance to a general audience.
He was demoing a product for his company Neuralink. Founded in 2016, the company’s goal is to help people suffering from neurological conditions. Musk’s solution? Neurotechnology. “I’m really excited to show you what we’ve got,” said Musk. “I think it’s going to blow your mind.” He was right. Nearly a month has passed and I’m still processing what I watched.
Neuralink is developing a brain implant that can essentially rewire the person’s neural chemistry. “Our goal is to solve important spine and brain problems with a seamlessly implanted device,” said Musk. “A device that you can basically put in your head and feel and look totally normal.”
Musk hopes to relieve symptoms of common disorders such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia. In addition to these, the company’s ultimate goal is to eventually help the paralyzed regain motor control. “The reality is that almost everyone over time will develop brain and spine problems,” Musk said. The implant is supposed to stimulate the sensory cortex of the brain, restoring the feeling of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
Theoretically speaking, the Neuralink will enable the person to control their smartphone or computer with their mind. This can help the paralyzed communicate through text or speech synthesis. Musk intends for a Neuralink app to be connected to the implant via Bluetooth. The carrier can even move a mouse or control a keyboard. In other words, a computer chip is embedded in the implant.
Through the use of electrodes, the implant can record and potentially recreate neural activity in the brain. Shaped like a coin, the implant carries threads of active electrodes; 1,024 to be exact. It has 24-hour battery life and has to be recharged by a wireless charger.
The electrodes are designed to spread across the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the perfect spot for the implant because it is the largest site of neural pathways in the brain. It also functions as the hotspot of consciousness, perception and motor control.
The implant is going to be installed by artificial intelligence. It will be conducting the procedure because the implant threads are too thin for human hands. The A.I. is a white robot named Gertrude. It will insert the implant through an 8-millimeter skull opening. The prototype was produced by the University of California.
Brain implants can be beneficial to the future of neurological treatments, but the potential risks are considerable. According to Oxford University, these implants come with software that can put the brain at risk of cyber attackers. The technical term is called “brainjacking.”
Dallas Hernandez is a registered behavioral therapist for children on the autistic spectrum. She works at First Steps for Kids in Los Angeles, California. “My main concern with this type of implant is how it could possibly be used against the patient if the app were to fall into the wrong hands,” said Hernandez. “Any sort of tech malfunction or even an electromagnetic pulse could cause major issues.”
The company has not experimented with any human test subjects so far. Instead, Neuralink works with pigs. This experimentation made me uncomfortable. In the live stream, Musk unveiled his “Three Little Pigs demo.” Three pigs were introduced. The first one was Joyce, a pig without an implant. She exhibited typical pig behavior.
The next pig was Dorothy; she already had the implant installed and removed. Dorothy seemed unaffected by the procedure. “This is a very important thing to demonstrate. Reversibility.” Musk said. “What Dorothy illustrates is that you can put in the Neuralink, remove it, and be happy, healthy, and indistinguishable from a normal pig.”
Finally, there was Gertrude. Upon entering the pen, Gertrude started to resonate with a beeping that sounded like Morse code. The implant was capturing live signals from her brain. The implant attached itself to neurons located in the pig’s snout. Whenever her snout brushed the ground, sensory neural signals would go off in her head.
Neuralink isn’t the first brain implant to be produced. The University of Utah’s engineering team produced a similar chip in 2012. However, the Utah Array is much clunkier than the Neuralink implant. Their implant consists of two blocks that plug into the head. This means that the patient can’t take it with them on the go.
I’ve always been a sci-fi fanatic. My fascination stems from shows like “Doctor Who” or “The Twilight Zone.” In turn, I’ve seen too much sci-fi pop culture that eerily resembles Musk’s project.
“Black Mirror” made an episode called “The Entire History of You.” The episode is set in a dystopian future where everyone has a brain chip installed. The chips record audiovisual senses and allow a person to access memories. In turn, they can replay memories like a movie. The episode ended with the protagonist discovering his wife cheated on him by snooping through her memories. Meanwhile, Neo from “The Matrix” has fake memories uploaded to his brain through an implant. This results in him automatically knowing Kung Fu. These examples are a little extreme, but not too far-off from what Neuralink is experimenting with.
