 Neuralink: Elon Musk still amazesHow to integrate human brain and AI
$ 150 million in funding for Neuralink, 100 of which come from Elon Musk.
Objective: to connect an external AI system to the brain using microscopic sensors inserted inside the skull.
Expected results: dialogue between man and machine, not only to correct brain dysfunctions, improving the life of those suffering from certain diseases, but also to create a real cyborg entity, which is based on AI-brain synergies.
After years in the secret of the laboratories, Neuralink is no longer a secret, but a chimera: now it can prove that it works and that it can be controlled to avoid dangers.
Based on what has already been achieved in the first experiments in the laboratory, sensors are grafted into the brain tissue passing through small holes in the skull.
This result is possible thanks to the tiny size of the sensors, which are thinner than a hair and extremely flexible, which can penetrate the brain following the natural traces without hurting the tissues.
The sensors can capture the internal signals of the brain and transmit them to an internal plate behind the ear, which communicates bidirectionally with an AI system through a small external apparatus.
The Neuralink team has hypothesised some possible applications by 2020, at the end of the tests with other primates, which have already revealed incredible potential.
AI can correct thinking when physiological problems prevent memorization or mobility. At a later stage people could be paralyzed due to spinal injuries, or create virtual reality applications.
If this technology can work as expected, serious challenges will be posed to philosophy and bioethics. What will be the limit of the word "human"? What are the dangers of software that can rewrite thought?
The presence of Musk in Neuralink demonstrates the concreteness of the objective. And this opens up a vast new field of research and development for the AI. |
