At the same time are you worried that AI is going to snatch your job? Are you distraught about the rapid progress in the field of AI? But what if i tell you that there is something more daunting out there in the bushes waiting for the prey to come.(Guess who is the prey)
A company named Neuralink was born in 2016 to make history, either getting ready to be known for how their technology will improve our world or how it will turn it into a dystopian society. Let's discuss this company and what they are developing.
What is Neuralink:
Neuralink is a neurotechnology company formed by Elon Musk and 7 other scientists and engineers in 2016. This company is developing a BMI (Brain Machine Interface) which will help the human brain to directly communicate with computers and other devices.
The fundamental technology of this company consists of ultra thin threads of electrodes which they call the neural threads and a surgical robot to insert it in our brain.
It was only in late 2019 the company revealed that they had developed a surgical robot that could implant extremely thin threads(4-6 micrometre thick), which is in fact thinner than a human hair.
To understand what neuralink is working on, it is first necessary to know how our brain works.
How brain works:
Our brain is simply an electronic device that transmits and receives signals in the form of electrical impulses. These impulses are travelled via the nervous system to and fro our body parts.
Neurons are present all over the body creating continuous electricity conducting channels called the nervous system.
For example, if we wanted to move our legs the neurons present in the nervous system of the brain-leg path, transmits the order from the brain to our legs in the form of electrical impulses. So, if we can read those electrical impulses from our neurons we could potentially restore your disability or make your existing qualities better.
So how do we detect those signals?
Brain Chips and electrodes:
To perceive these electrical impulses, scientists came up with the idea of inserting electrodes in our brain tissue. These electrodes, which are implanted near neurons, could detect and send signals.
All electrodes are then connected to a chip which could then process electrical signals received from the electrodes. This chip that is placed in our skull is called the brain chip.
For example Parkinson’s disease is treated with the help of brain chips. The electrodes which are implanted in our brain stimulates our neurons by sending signals. This will help to increase the production of dopamine in our brain.
As Parkinson’s disease is caused by the lack of dopamine in our body, this method will help alleviate the problem. This treatment for a person affected by Parkinson’s disease is called DBS(Deep Brain Stimulation).
Brain-chips are basically considered as a form of BCI. But what is BCI?
What is Brain-Computer-Interface(BCI):
This technology allows our brain to communicate directly with computer devices without involving any physical contact. You can simply interact with a computer say.. Playing a game or moving a cursor, just by thinking about that task in your brain. And you need not to make any physical contact with the device.
This will be extremely useful for a paralyzed person or a person of any similar defects. For example, even if a person had lost his arm, he still can think of moving it in his brain. So this technology can be used to detect nerve signals from our brain. This will be then translated into a command which will then be sent to the robotic arm.
Limitations of BCI:
Most of these experiments take place in invasive laboratories and require extensive human assistance. In these experiments no more than few hundred electrodes passing through the skin are involved, making it limited to its use. More the complex the experiment gets, the more wiring it requires.
What is special with neuralink:
Neuralink is in the process of building a fully implantable and wireless brain chip that can be connected via bluetooth. This removes the need for external equipment except the device that is being controlled. They have also scaled up the number of electrodes to be implanted to a whopping 1024.
This in comparison with DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) just uses 4-8 electrodes. They are also 800 times bigger in diameter than the electrodes used by neuralink. There are also only a few BCI devices approved for human treatment, but none of them are as invasive as neuralink.
Disclaimer note: BCI and BMI are often being confused. Apart from the minor differences, both are technically the same..
Evolution of Neuralink brain-chip: The Link
The first model: wearable brainchip
In this model, the electrodes which will be inserted in our brain are connected to an external chip that will be attached behind our ear. Although we are not really sure about its exact ideology as it was ditched, what we all know is that it should have been complex. Also having something behind your ears might make you feel awkward in public.
Basically whenever the charge comes down to 5%, you can remove that small chip and recharge it. Once it is charged you can keep it back in the same place without anyone’s assistance. It was also said to be a viable design for software updates.
The latest model: completely implantable
This chip is fully implantable in our skull and no one can guess if you had an implantation. Elon said that it is simply having a fitbit in your brain which might give you an idea of its size. Or a coin in your head should also be a good analogy. The electrodes from the brain are connected to this chip which then transmits the message to an external device.
Neuralink robot surgeon: The R1
As the electrodes are 1/10th of the diameter of a human hair, it is practically impossible for humans to perform the surgery. This is why neuralink created a robot which is capable of completing the whole surgery in just 60 minutes. This robot was given the name R1. It doesn't require any human intervention and is completely autonomous.
Neuralink App:
Voluntarily trying to think about something like moving the cursor towards the right or playing video games are extremely hard. It requires extensive practice to make our brain think the way we wanted. Here is where the neuralink app comes handy.
It teaches people to control their brain with the help of simple brain exercises and also shows their score and improvement.
Fun fact: This app is probably available only for Iphone users. As the renders in their website shows their app running on an Iphone. I feel pity for android users.
Neuralink’s progress so far:
In 2021 neuralink released a video of a macaque playing a mind pong game. In a recent presentation they also tested the chip in the pig's brain that tracked its movement accurately. Apart from animal tests, they recently simulated the surgery in a constantly moving fake human brain.
Neuralink goals and future ambitions:
Neuralink says that their initial goal is to help people with paralysis regain independence through the control of computers and mobile devices. Helping people with disabilities to access computer devices like a typical human is what they consider to be their foremost goal.
With the rapid progress in the field of AI, Elon says it’s mandatory for us(humans) to compete with them by a human-machine symbiosis. He says neuralink is the solution for the problems that will be arised by AI in future. If this tech could be used for resolving disabilities in humans, then why not to enhance our existing abilities?
If you could translate a whole movie into brain signals you can simply watch a movie just by closing your eyes. The translated movie will be sent to your brain via the electrodes and using screens to watch a movie will soon become outdated.
In simple terms every existing computer device including earphones, mobiles, TV etc.. will turn out to be useless.
Even the most hyped AR/VR will be no match to the experience we can get from the neuralink technology.
There is possibly a lot you can do with this. Either you can resolve your disabilities or become a cyborg.
Potential threats:
Elimination of barriers:
I have seen a lot of people saying that technological advancements will lead to job loss and other problems, but will soon be compensated or we would have adapted to it. But Elon Musk’s vision sounds like an entry to a dystopian world.
In one of his speeches, Elon said that, if you are watching a video or scrolling something in your phone, it is the thumb that interacts with the device. But a direct brain-machine interface will reduce the time for your thumb scrolling and you can get a much better and faster experience.
He claims this to be a nice feature, but for me this sounds like a feature straight from hell. You know most of us like to play video games. And if you are a hardcore gamer you probably have been spending a big chunk of your everyday time playing games.
If you look closely at it, there are certain barriers you have to come across to play a complex game. Like having a perfect gaming setup, a chair and you have to sit all day long in the same place. You can also not play while eating, sleeping and while doing your everyday tasks.
These are the barriers that resists people from playing games 24/7. Imagine trying to walk on a surface with no friction. It is the friction that resists us from falling or simply it is because of this resistance, we are able to walk. Gaming is analogous to this walking concept.
These barriers for playing a game provide us resistance and help us enjoy the game at the same time. And if Elon says removing barriers will improve our life, it is hands down the worst ideology I have ever heard. If we could just think of playing a game and can control all characters in it just by our mind without interacting with devices, it ultimately eliminates all barriers.
Now you can play while eating, drinking, running, walking, sleeping and even while peeing. Everything that was previously impossible will become possible. It will be like walking on a frictionless floor. We will one day fall down.
Gaming is not the only entity that will be affected by the elimination of barriers. This is just one of many examples of how it will affect our everyday life.
Brain hacking and advertisements:
If the concept of brain enhancement manages to reach the level that Elon claims it to be, then this will also become a reality. Imagine other people hacking your brain and using you as a tool to murder someone else. If they erase that memory from your brain, you will never know why the cops had arrested you.
Or elon might even start to sell antivirus software, who knows. We can't believe the words of a billionaire. Or imagine an advertisement popping in your head while you were peeing peacefully.
Although Elon promised that will never happen, nothing is for sure.
Mental and physical health:
I am pretty sure that we will get lazy if this tech gets to have its full potential in our world. No barriers, all time access to everything just by thinking etc, will affect our health in a way that no other invention has affected us.
Resurrection and immortality:
Yes, you heard it right. This technology has the potential to store all our memories and restore them in another body or even in a robot. I am not sure if this is good or bad, but this will have a serious effect in our society.
When I asked mid journey about human evolution, it showed humans gradually becoming robots and finally into a wire. I didn't understand it then, but it's quite clear now.
Major hurdles for neuralink:
Urgency:
The employees have complained that Elon Musk is forcing them to complete it as quickly as possible. They claimed to be mentally sabotaged by Elon to make their progress rapid.
Fatality:
Because of Elon’s urgency, the process that has to be checked several times before using them in animals was cut down drastically. This led to an increased death of lab animals.
Although Elon seems to be transparent in animal tests, it is found that more than 1000 animals were killed. Mostly because of the urgency to complete it early.
Other papers say that neuralink is using the same chip for several animals leading to contamination. This is ridiculous. They have been alleged for high numbers of animal fatality during tests. And it was all for the sake to complete it early.
FDA approval:
Overhyped:
After coming to know about its threat, you probably have been worrying about our future. But the good thing is, this technology is still in its premature stages and Musk’s ambitions are far from getting true in reality. Neuralink is extremely overhyped as many neuroscientists have criticised them for the lack of evidence for their promises.
Replacing our gadgets, elimination of barriers might sound threatening, but there is still a long way to go.
Neuroscientists reaction:
There is a mixed reaction among neuroscientists about this technology. Some say this will be the next biggest breakthrough after AI, but others claim this to be simply mediocre. Neuralink has also been criticised for solid engineering and mediocre neuroscience by many people.
Most of the scientists have demanded for more evidence on what neuralink is developing. Because most of Elon’s ambitions sound way beyond sci-fi and the dearth of evidence to support his claims has raised more criticisms against neuralink.
Conclusion:
In the start of the article I had asked you to guess who is the prey. Did you find it out? It may be difficult to come to a point as the company is still in its infancy stage and all Elon's goals are way too ambitious.
It's all good to see how it will help people with disabilities. But the real threat comes only when we think of a human-machine symbiosis. Why can't we just let people live their own way? Elon says neuralink is a weapon for us to compete with AI domination.
But this makes me feel more insecure. Do you really want to become a cyborg? This tech sounds fancy, but anything that sounds fancy necessarily need not to be beneficial. Let's see how our destiny is written.
But what do you feel about neuralink?
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