Elon Musk’s latest project – Neuralink is a neurotechnology company that aims to develop a brain implant to connect it directly to a computer.
Musk claims that the tech will allow people to perform actions only through their thoughts. The 50-year-old entrepreneur aims to help differently-abled people to explore their independence.
Musk hopes that the technology can someday be advanced enough to help with brain disorders and save memories that can be revisited whenever needed.
Experts, on the other hand, are cynical of Musk’s ambitions and the goals laid out by Neuralink.
A researcher from the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Christof Koch in a comment to Forbes explained:
Unlike Tesla or SpaceX, we are not talking about technological problems or infrastructure problems. These are fundamental science problems.
Musk claims:
Even in a benign A.I. scenario, we will be left behind. But with a brain-machine interface (BMI), we can go along for the ride.
Musk’s Neurolink is expected to save everyone from AI annihilation. The project is also expected to restore some movement for people with spinal cord injuries, and treat neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
With Neurolink, medical experts can easily insert the brain chip in less than an hour without the need for general anesthesia.
The project may help able-bodied people to type or play a video game via their thoughts alone. It is also not clear if medical regulators will allow able-bodied individuals to have chips implants.
The electrodes of the Neurolink are about the diameter of a quarter and almost 5 times as thick and can be added to a cavity drilled into the skull. Since the brain does not have any pain receptors, brain surgery is commonly done under local anesthesia.
The Neuralink is expected to revolutionize BCI. However, the surgical robot the company plans to use for the implant has not yet been approved for clinical trials and there could be risks associated with drilling a hole into someone’s skull.
