by What is happening
Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced this week that his company Neuralink had successfully implanted its brain-to-computer interface device in a human patient for the first time.
The device, a coin-sized disk with thousands of electrodes that can read brain activity, is designed to be implanted through a small hole in the skull by a specialized robot. Musk didn’t share any details about the procedure, other than to say that Initial tests show “promising neuron spike detection” and that the patient is “recovering well.”
As sci-fi as the concept may sound, the development of a brain-computer interface (BCI) has been a serious scientific pursuit for many years, and recent technological advances have brought life to life in a number of years. down Brain implants have enabled severely disabled people to communicate via computer and surf the internet and even helped one man sip beer by controlling a robotic arm.
Neuralink is the only company working on BCIs, but it is unique when it comes to the scale of its ambitions. The other projects are mainly focused on developing systems that can support people with special needs so that they can interact with them and move through the world around them. Neuralink’s current research appears to have similar goals, but Musk — who has a documented history of making big claims that don’t come true — has a much loftier vision of what the implants could do.
He envisions a future where the average person can use brain implants to seamlessly connect their minds to the internet at all times, make themselves smarter, achieve “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence and even one day Consciousness to upload into robots.
Neuralink implants have shown some efficacy in non-human experiments. But, like many of Musk’s business ventures, those gains have been accompanied by controversy. The company has faced allegations that Musk’s claims of quick results forced Neuralink scientists to rush their experiments, resulting in unnecessary suffering and death among the pigs, sheep and monkeys used in his research. Neuralink was also reportedly fined by the federal government for violating rules related to the transportation of hazardous materials.
Why is there a debate?
Brain implant technology is still very much in its infancy, but recent advances have fueled the debate about what the devices could realistically do down the road – and whether Musk’s ambitious dreams for the future are anything to go by. we would even.
Most brain researchers say there is good reason to expect that BCIs could be revolutionary for people with limited physical and mental conditions. But they also warn that there are still big questions that need to be answered before they can be done beyond small scientific studies — including uncertainty about how long the devices will last, practical challenges that could limit with the amount of data they can transfer, and concerns about the safety of the implant surgery.
Unsurprisingly, there’s much stronger skepticism about Musk’s bolder ideas about what brain implants will one day allow us to do, but there are also plenty of experts who argue that the worst-case scenario is one where his all visions fulfilled.
While the prospect of high-powered computers being attached to our brains is exciting to some, polls show that most Americans oppose the idea. Bioethicists worry that brain implants would give for-profit companies access to our deepest thoughts, leave us vulnerable to mental hackers, exacerbate inequality and make it impossible to ever disconnect from the online world.
What lies ahead
At the moment, there are very few details about where the BCI Neuralink research goes from here, including how many people will receive implants and what specific measures will be used to determine the success of the trial. According to the company, the study is expected to take six years to complete.
Perspectives
The potential for people with severe disabilities is very real
“This technology, and others like it, could have broad applications for people with disabilities and could have an impact on able-bodied people as well. While it may not be the holy grail for quadriplegic people, it certainly gives hope to people with severe disabilities.” — Mill Etienne, Forbes
There is no way to know what is really possible until we try
“It’s the nature of science: you never know what’s around the corner. … They are scientific questions [for which] I have no idea what the answer will be until we do the experiments.” — John Donoghue, neuroengineering researcher at Brown University, to Scientific American
Musk’s brilliant thinking lays out a road map for real world-changing progress
“Musk is known for setting outrageous goals: he wants his rocket company SpaceX to send people to Mars. Turning humans into cyborgs could be equally ambitious. Even if it falls short, a lot could be done along the way.” — Rolfe Winkler and Jo Craven McGinty, Wall Street Journal
We shouldn’t let fear of a future that never happens get in the way of progress on what is actually possible
“The neuromodulatory baby should not be thrown out in the futuristic bathwater of those who promise to melt our minds with computers.” — Arthur Caplan, Michael Pourfar and Alon Y. Mogilner, Boston Globe
Our brains should not be permanently connected to the internet
“It’s great, as long as the brain device doesn’t force people into the time-distraction matrix we call the internet. Far from enriching our lives, that may create a step too far in terms of being ‘connected’.” — Parmy Olson, Bloomberg
Brain chips would turn our private thoughts into a commodity for Big Tech to mine and sell
“The brain is not just another organ of the body; it is the organ that generates the human mind. This should be the refuge of our identity. You have to protect that, you can’t go in and start banking and selling brain data.” — Rafael Yuste, neuroscientist at Columbia University, for Nature
Implants could create a whole new class of haves and have-nots
“A society where some people are cognitively enhanced and others are not, could create a class divide like never before.” — Allan McCay, technology and ethics researcher, to the Washington Post
We must protect our mental privacy at all costs
“Our brains are the ultimate privacy frontier. They are the seat of our personal identity and our most intimate thoughts. If we don’t have control over those three precious pounds in our craniums, what is?” — Sigal Samuel, Vox
