Elon Musk believes his ambitious computer-to-brain project, Neuralink, will solve a lot of brain and spine injuries.
Neuralink aims to achieve a symbiosis between AI and the human brain. First established in 2016, the project has been relatively quiet despite the company’s ~90 employees clearly working hard behind-the-scenes.
In a call-out on Twitter for engineers to join Neuralink, Musk highlighted what lifechanging results the work could achieve:
One Twitter user asked Musk whether Neuralink “will be able to stop rapid firing, when needed, in neural networks, for patients with OCD? Possibly even stimulate the release of oxytocin, serotonin, and other chemicals when needed? Will it be able to artificially work the neuron & synapses like that?”
Musk had a simple response: “Yes.”
During an event last year, Neuralink demonstrated that the company had already inserted “threads” covered in electrodes into the brain of a rat and was able to record the information being transmitted by its neurons onto a sensor called the N1. Musk said he wanted to commence human trials in 2020.
Neuralink then went dark, with its Twitter account not making a single tweet since last year’s event. However, earlier this month, Musk dropped a surprise announcement that a progress update will be shared on August 28th.
It seems unlikely that human trials will be going ahead this year, especially given the setbacks Neuralink has likely faced – as most companies – due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all progress is welcome for something which could one day improve so many lives.
(Photo by David Matos on Unsplash)
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I received a brain injury from carbon monoxide poisoning some thirty years ago and still have memory problems and poor cognitive function. This field is one I have been eagerly interested in for some time.
I would love to be involved as a trial subject.