Artificial intelligence is a technology that is used in a tremendous amount of modern day products. It is used for creating your TikTok and Instagram feed, but it is also used for healthcare problems like helping completely paralyzed people communicate again by using implants and AI. With electrodes implanted into the brain of a completely paralyzed patient, he was then able to handwrite characters by just thinking about writing them with his own hand. An AI program was trained with the use of these commands and was eventually able to correctly read out 95% of the words the patient was writing (Servick, 2019).
Except from the ability to handwrite with one’s own mind there are more developments within this trend, there are multiple start-ups trying to come up with practical use-cases for AI implanted into the brain of a patient. The most remarkable start-up is probably Elon Musk’s Neuralink. The company was co-founded by Musk in 2016 and made quite some progress in creating the microchips necessary to connect a person’s brain with AI. The company already implanted the device in a pig and a chimpanzee, which was able to play a computer game with just its thoughts. According to Elon Musk, Neuralink will provide disabled people the possibility to walk again and even cure Alzheimer’s. (Hamilton, 2022).
Many researchers are however skeptical towards the Neuralink company as there have been a lot of promises by Elon Musk which didn’t come true. In 2019, Musk said that the Neuralink device would be implanted into a human skull by 2020, he made the statement again in 2021 and currently the planned date is somewhere in 2022 (which is almost at its end already).
A working Neuralink with all the possibilities mentioned by Elon Musk can be lifechanging for the world and especially disabled people. It is however still unclear if the technology will meet up with Musk’s dreamworld as there have been plenty of empty promises by the billionaire. The future will show what promises hold ground.
Regardless of the outcome of Neuralink, the presence of Elon Musk in the development of products like these bring a lot of attention to the possibilities, which probably lead to quicker innovation and more possibilities for the patients who eventually profit from this.
Do you think Elon Musk’s Neuralink will succeed in its plans?
References
Hamilton, I. A. (2022, July 4). The story of Neuralink: Elon Musk’s AI brain chip company where he had twins with a top executive. Retrieved September 14, 2022 from https://www.businessinsider.com/neuralink-elon-musk-microchips-brains-ai-2021-2?international=true&r=US&IR=T#one-neuroscientist-told-insider-there-are-big-ethical-problems-with-the-idea-of-performing-brain-surgery-for-anything-other-than-essential-treatme
Neuralink. (2022). From https://neuralink.com/
Servick, K. (2019, October 23). AI allows paralyzed person to ‘handwrite’ with his mind. Retrieved September 14, 2022 from https://www.science.org/content/article/ai-allows-paralyzed-person-handwrite-his-mind
Interesting take on AI Thomas! However, I am sceptical about whether Elon Musk can succeed in his plans, as this project shows some concerns. Firstly, I’m worried if this technology is advanced enough to make its impact on humans, as our neurological system is much more complex than that of animals that were being tested. Furthermore, I wonder whenever this technology makes its way to the market, how affordable would it be? As the American health system already comes with a heavy price, can this project improve the lives of (less fortunate) disabled people? Creating the technology is one thing, but making it affordable for the public is another important question to keep in mind. However, you are correct. We need ambitious entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, to explore the full potential technology has to offer.
It is very insightful to read on your perspective of Nuralink. However, I remember reading about Elon Musk’s vision on Nuralink was that he had so little faith on humanity in combat with AI, the project was a proposal to merge human brain with AI so we can live cohesively if there ever would be a cyber war. It is not necessary designed to help the disabled, but it can definitely be used for. To be able to afford this, a disable person will need a lot of financial support and goes through vigorous testing, or it can actually be implemented in government support systems. I have a pretty positive outlook towards his projects, but similar to the automatous driving, the hardest stage of implementation is to go through existing government and legal constraints.