Neuralink: Can Musk's brain technology change the world?

Elon Musk is no stranger to bold claims, from plans to colonize Mars to dreams of building transportation networks beneath our biggest cities.this week richest man in the world He said his Neuralink division had successfully implanted the first wireless brain chip in a human.

Is he right that this technology has the potential to save humanity itself in the long run?

Sticking electrodes into brain tissue is actually nothing new.

In the 1960s and 70s, electrical stimulation was used to induce or suppress aggressive behavior in cats. By the early 2000s, monkeys were trained to move a cursor on a computer screen using just their thoughts.

“It's nothing new, but it's going to take a long time for implantable technology to mature and get to the point where companies can put all the pieces of the puzzle together and really start putting it together.” said Anne Vanhostenberg, professor of medical devices. At King's College London.

Neuralink is one of a growing number of companies and university departments trying to refine and eventually commercialize the technology. The focus, at least initially, is on treating paralysis and complex neurological conditions.

The human brain has approximately 86 billion neurons, which are connected to each other by synapses. Every time we want to move, feel, or think, tiny electrical impulses are generated and sent incredibly quickly from one neuron to another.

Scientists have developed a device that can detect some of these signals using either a non-invasive cap worn over the head or wires implanted in the brain itself.

The technology, known as brain-computer interfaces (BCI), is currently receiving millions of dollars of research funding.

Neuralink's device is about the size of a coin and is inserted into the skull along with tiny wires that can read neuron activity and beam radio signals back to a receiving unit. The company conducted tests on pigs and claimed that monkeys could play a basic version of the video game Pong.

Approval for human trials was obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2023.

We now know that the first patient received the implant, but details are not available. Musk said only that the person was “recovering well” and that early results showed “promising detection of neuronal spikes.”

It may sound very sci-fi, but in a way Neuralink is playing catch-up.

One of its main rivals, a startup called Synchron, is backed by investment firms controlled by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and has already implanted stent-like devices in 10 patients. I'm here.

Back in December 2021, Philip O'Keeffe, a 62-year-old Australian who lives with a type of motor neuron disease, created his first tweet using only his mind and a cursor.

A research paper published this year demonstrated that a device in the brain could send signals to a second device implanted at the base of the spine, which could cause limbs to move.

Some people living with spinal cord injuries are skeptical of the sudden interest in this new type of technology.

Glyn Hayes, who was left paralyzed in a 2017 motorcycle accident and is now a spokesperson for the Spinal Cord Injury Association, said: “These breakthroughs are announced over and over again, but it seems like no progress is being made.” talk.

“If I could take something back, it wouldn't be the ability to walk. I would spend more money on things like getting rid of nerve pain and improving bowel, bladder and sexual function.”

But for Elon Musk, “solving” brain and spinal cord injuries is just the first step for Neuralink.

The long-term goal is “human-AI symbiosis,” which he describes as “species-level importance.”

The real trick is to develop systems that can interpret, or translate, the signals coming from the brain with much greater precision. If that happens, humans may be able to communicate with computers and other electronic devices in ways that are difficult to understand today.

Imagine being able to order takeout, search the internet, or instantly translate from one language to another in your head just by thinking.

Musk himself has already talked about a future where his devices will allow people to communicate with phones and computers “faster than a speed typist or an auctioneer.”

In the past, he has even said that it might be possible to store and replay memories, but acknowledges that “this sounds more and more like an episode of Black Mirror.”

Others are more skeptical. “Currently, we are struggling to find applications where consumers can benefit from the risks of invasive surgery,” van Hostenberghe said.

“You have to ask yourself, do I want to risk brain surgery just to be able to order pizza on my smartphone?”

Rather, she thinks the first mass-market uses could be in stimulating the brain to combat problems such as treatment-resistant depression, dementia, and even some sleep disorders. However, its effectiveness is uncertain and research is in its early stages.

Dr Dean Barnett, honorary research fellow at Cardiff University's School of Psychology, said there were significant practical barriers to Neuralink becoming a mainstream consumer product.

“Everyone's brain is different. You can't just use one chip that fits everyone and does exactly the same thing. It requires a very meticulous process,” he says.

“As technology advances, do we have to buy a new chip every five years? Is it like having an old Nokia in your head that was fun at the time but isn't very useful now? ?”

One thing almost all experts in the field agree on is that it will be decades at most before this kind of cutting-edge technology is available from your local high street neurosurgeon. That's it.

Elon Musk similarly agrees that the ultimate goal is not to speed up takeout orders, but to better protect humanity from the risks of artificial intelligence (AI), which in the past has threat.''

He argues that by successfully combining human and computer brains, we are less likely to be “left behind” as a species. “High-bandwidth brain-machine interfaces really allow us to move forward.”