There is a good chance that you spent a lot of time on your phone today, maybe you had to work on a deadline for an assignment with your fellow students via Zoom or maybe you just listened to new music via Spotify.
In fact, every person is connected 24/7 with his phone, a separate device on which you spend a lot of time in your life. Isn’t it really a bad idea if our phone will soon be part of your body? It sounds quite illogical, but there is a good chance that everyone will have a smartphone implemented in the brain. Not literally, of course, but just a small mobile device of a few millimeters. We already have the technology built into our computers, phones, watches, shoes and cars. Why not also in ourselves?
If you would believe the experts, we are already very close to this scenario as they claim that implantable technology will be commercially available as early as 2023 (cbsnews, 2016). Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, last month presented the progress of his project Neuralink, an implantable brain machine interface that should help cure neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and spinal cord injuries. During the presentation, which could be followed live via YouTube, three small pigs with brain implants that had been applied with a sewing machine robot, were seen walking around, where the viewers could watch the brain activity and neurons firing via a screen in real time. It is still unclear when the brain implants of Elon Musk will be ready for market, but he did indicate that Neuralink is working towards a cheap and reliable brain implant that will be commercially available to billions of people in the near future (technology review, 2020).
What do you think about a brain implant and Elon Musk’s plans? Will this cure diseases and improve people’s lives?
I know one thing for sure, I will skip this time. I do need my night rest and receiving Spotify commercials seems a bit more pleasant on my phone than echoing through my brain.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-mobile-phone-of-the-future-will-be-implanted-in-your-head/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/30/1007786/elon-musks-neuralink-demo-update-neuroscience-theater/
