By Nick Statt
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is backing a brain-computer interface venture called Neuralink, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company, which is still in the earliest stages of existence and has
no public presence whatsoever, is centered on creating devices that can
be implanted in the human brain, with the eventual purpose of helping
human beings merge with software and keep pace with advancements in
artificial intelligence. These enhancements could improve memory or
allow for more direct interfacing with computing devices.
Musk has hinted at the existence of Neuralink a few times over the last six months or so. More recently, Musk told a crowd in Dubai,
“Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological
intelligence and digital intelligence.” He added that “it’s mostly about
the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the
digital version of yourself, particularly output.” On Twitter, Musk has responded to inquiring fans about his progress on a so-called “neural lace,” which is sci-fi shorthand for a brain-computer interface humans could use to improve themselves.
These types of brain-computer interfaces exist today only
in science fiction. In the medical realm, electrode arrays and other
implants have been used to help ameliorate the effects of Parkinson’s,
epilepsy, and other neurodegenerative diseases. However, very few people
on the planet have complex implants placed inside their skulls, while
the number of patients with very basic stimulating devices number only
in the tens of thousands. This is partly because it is incredibly
dangerous and invasive to operate on the human brain, and only those who
have exhausted every other medical option choose to undergo such
surgery as a last resort.
This has not stopped a surge in Silicon Valley interest
from tech industry futurists who are interested in accelerating the
advancement of these types of far-off ideas. Kernel, a startup created
by Braintree co-founder Bryan Johnson, is also trying to enhance human
cognition. With more than $100 million of Johnson’s own money — the
entrepreneur sold Braintree to PayPal for around $800 million in 2013 —
Kernel and its growing team of neuroscientists and software engineers
are working toward reversing the effects of neurodegenerative diseases and, eventually, making our brains faster and smarter and more wired.
“We know if we put a chip in the brain and release electrical signals, that we can ameliorate symptoms of Parkinson’s,” Johnson told The Verge in an interview late last year.
(Johnson also confirmed Musk’s involvement with Neuralink.) “This has
been done for spinal cord pain, obesity, anorexia… what hasn’t been done
is the reading and writing of neural code.” Johnson says Kernel’s goal
is to “work with the brain the same way we work with other complex
biological systems like biology and genetics.”
Thanks to The Event Chronicle
