In the month of May 2023, the US food and drug administration gave its approval for implanting the first wireless chip into a human brain. The new company Neuralink, . established by Elon Musk inserted its device into human skull with the help of a robot R1. The device consists of microscopic wires which read the neuronic activity and beam back the signal to a receiving unit. Thus a brain computer interface is formed which attempts to catch the electrical impulse travelling in the 86 billion neurons interconnected by synapses. This serves to help patients with paralysis and complex neurological conditions and is the main focus of neuralink. Yet the scope of its applications is immense and will gradually unfold with time.
Lausanne university of Switzerland has been conducting research on paralysis and they have demonstrated the possibility of paraplegics to become ambulant with the help of device implanted in his brain. Hence solving brain and spinal injury problems is the first step for neuralink. The long term goal is human / AI symbiosis which Musk describes a ' species level important' step if the human race is to survive a complete takeover by AI.
A well known British scientist Mr. Anil Seth, talks about the ethical and philosophical concerns of BCI and its possible implications. The technique of implanting devices is decades old but the chip would be outside the brain. Neuralink has gone a step further by placing the chip under the skull skin. Apart from its encouraging role in paralyss, BCI can help patients with blindness, epilepsy and depression.
The drawback of BCI is that with advancement in technology, brain activity would be mapped on server farms and then be controlled remotely. This will lead to cyborgs and the concept of sci-fi will become a tangible reality.
Elon Musk plans to use these devices to save and relive memories but Anil Seth says it is vital for human race to forget past experiences so that a normal psychology can be maintained. Thus there is a tussle between what and how much should such devices be allowed to permeate and ultimately control our life.
Till then, the medical applications of neuralink is very encouraging and gives a lot of hope to people battling neurological problems As of now, the first human to get the brain chip implant from Neuralink is fully recovered and is able to control a computer mouse using his thoughts. This has been announced by the company which plans to get as many mouse clicks from the patient as possible. The initial goal of this ambitious project is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts and thus activate the region of brain which controls the intention of movement. A lot of scope and lot of work remains to be done.
