Advancement in technologies has stemmed innovation in variety of fields. Entrepreneurs aim to invent new, better devices, software and solutions. And then there are some, that take it even further.
An example of this is Elon Musk – a businessman, inventor and engineer known by many as the founder of Tesla, or the aerospace company Space X. Notorious for his futuristic ideas, and his ability to (kind of) achieve them. Musk’s latest invention titled Neuralink is attempting to break into the field of neuroscience. The team, composed of neuroscientists, engineers and veterinarians, aims to develop a device that can directly interface with our brains.
Human brain is composed of 86 million neurons. Each of these neurons communicate with one another by sending electrical signals. Different parts of our brains are responsible for different types of activities; they carry information about things that we see, feel, touch or think. Neuralink aims to interact with neurons, by connecting electrodes into your brain that can detect the transmitted signals, and if needed stimulate them additionally with electrical current. It is installed, by cutting out a piece of skull, and replacing it with a coin-shaped device. This device then connects tiny wires to the surface of the brain, that can send electrical signals to make neurons fire signals, or read emitted signals. To make it even more sci-fi, the company has also developed a robot-surgeon that is able to perform the surgery and insert the device in several hours.
According to the company, the possibilities are endless. However, the first milestone is to allow people to control a robotic prosthetic limb or transmit the brain data to a digital device. Curing Parkinson’s and allowing relief from mental illnesses were also on the list. Recently, the device was presented in a live presentation with several pigs having the device implanted, and their brain activity displayed on a screen.
Our brains are still one of the fields in medicine that have not yet been fully discovered and understood. Even if Neuralink fails, I believe that such efforts are encouraged, as they allow to learn more about how human brain works, and gain insight into our conscience. It is likely that in the future, further advancements in technology will allow similar devices to emerge.
Let us hope that they do not fall into the hands of advertisers.
Sources/Further information
Presentation: Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020
Site: Neuralink.com
Hi Jokubas!
Thank you for this interesting Blogpost. While reading through your article I was thinking about all the possibilities the new technology would able to bring into our daily lives. It might be able to fix people who have issues that previously were seen as impossible to fix. For example, blind people could be able to see again or deaf people would be able to listen to music for the first time. Further, it could also bring possible advances to improve our daily life by communicating without speaking verbally to each other, just by thinking. I think there are millions of other opportunities this technology could bring, and the potential is immense.
However, with every innovation, there has always been drawbacks. I believe as of now the drawbacks are similar drawbacks that come along with almost any other technology that is a big part of our life. Privacy issues for example are probably one of the major ones in this case. These issues have to be definitely discussed before implementing such a technology on a bigger scale, but I think it will not hinder the development. Further, I personally believe this technology is a steppingstone to our future. I cannot wait, to see all the possibilities evolving with such an advance and I think it will definitely be interesting times ahead.
Dear Jakubas,
What an interesting read! The advancements in neuroscience are fascinating and frightening at the same time. If such devices will be used for medical purposes, they have the potential to give millions of people a new perspective and improve their lives. However, as you already stated, the possible areas of application are endless. Consequently, such devices could also be used in a harmful way, and the usage for advertisement might be one of the less dangerous applications here.
In my opinion, governing bodies have to react soon and set clear rules for the usage and development of neural implants. The key challenge here is to develop regulations that do not limit the scientific progress, but also ensure that citizens’ rights and freedom are respected. Most likely, developing those legislative requirements will be one of the most interesting tasks for governments in the future.
Hi there Jokubas,
Thanks for your post. I really enjoyed reading it, as I am fascinated by this particular company myself. Yoy went into detail on how the Link V0.9 works, which is interesting, as it is not that well covered yet on the Information Strategy blog by other Neuralink articles.
If you fancy reading more on this topic: https://digitalstrategy.rsm.nl//2020/10/06/bim-meet-gertrude/ . I linked most of this years Neuralink articles at the bottom of mine, so readers can further increase their knowledge on the topic.
What I find the curse of Neuralink, and in a way Elon Musk, is that science is not as far as Neuralink would want it to be. There is still a lot unknown on how the brain functions. Hopefully business ventures like Neuralink help push scientific research in this field. Similair like SpaceX and Tesla are pushing scientific research in the field of material, fuel, electrification and Autonomous Driving sciences.
What do you think of the long term goal of Elon Musk and Neuralink: to enable humans to merge with AI? Do you share Elon’s fear of the AI singularity? Curious to hear you views.
Dear Jokubas,
Thank you for this article. I also have read about Neuralink and saw that it was a very ambitious project. Some aims would be to cure people with treating a lot of brain disorders such as depression, blindness, or memory loss. In the future the aim would be for the device to be used for storing memories, downloading them into robots, or communicating at high speed with Artificial Intelligence. Even though is it a quite challenging I have faith and believe that Elon Musk could easily find the necessary funds in order to expands his idea further and uncover endless opportunities!