Elon Musk’s Neuralink Demo Today is Yet Another Historical Event
It looks like we are witnessing a breakthrough innovation every week these days
Do you also feel hyped, anxious, and tired over the rate of technological innovations we are witnessing nowadays? It looks like we are now experiencing a breakthrough innovation almost every week now, and it is becoming almost impossible to keep up with the latest developments.
I still have not got over my obsession with the GPT-3 innovations recently unleashed — please see my article on this below:
Yet, there is no time to breathe or slow down because Elon Musk is unveiling a working demo of Neuralink brain chip today. For the first time in history, we will witness Neuralink make a direct link between the human brain and the machine. This is a historical moment because it will perhaps be the start of a new era of superhuman intelligence. This revolutionary technology is called BMI — ‘brain-machine interface’ technology.
Elon Musk tweeted that the demo would involve neurons firing in real-time. Back in February, he tweeted: “The profound impact of high bandwidth, high precision neural interfaces is underappreciated. Neuralink may have this in a human as soon as this year.”
One of the secret sauces of Neuralink is its competent cross-disciplinary teams. Elon Musk met with over 1,000 people in order to assemble the Neuralink team. The team has members that have expertise in neuroscience, brain surgery, microscopic electronics, clinical trials, artificial intelligence, brain-machine interfaces, materials science, computer science, and design.
The goal of Neuralink is to connect the human brain with artificial intelligence through an ultra-high bandwidth BMI. In other words, they are trying to create wires that will allow much faster and better communication between humans and machines. These wires called ‘neural laces’ will be 10 times thinner than human hair, but very flexible and powerful. The brain chips will be implanted in a few hours without too much invasion and no need to visit the hospital — the procedure will be similar to Lasik eye surgery. Musk says: “Basically, you drill a hole in the skull, which leaves only a small scar, and insert the device.”
All of these sound weird because they are. Science fiction is becoming reality once again.
How does it work?
Even experienced brain surgeons do not have the dexterity required to insert such thin and flexible threads into the brain. Thus, Neuralink will use an advanced robotic electrode inserter that will connect the human brain to the computer through thin polymer threads.
Neuralink’s BMI system is comprised of three main components:
- ultra-thin polymer threads,
- a neurosurgeon robot that acts as a sewing machine, and
- sensors.
The BMI system will insert sensors and electrodes into the brain to connect to neurons for data transfer. The initial goal is to directly connect the human brain with artificial intelligence to repair brain injuries or neurological damage. The system will be mobile, wireless, and adaptive.
An early version of the system has already been tested with mice and monkeys. Musk says that a monkey equipped with a Neuralink BMI system is now able to control a computer. The system will start experiments with human subjects soon to treat patients with brain diseases or spinal cord injuries.
The long term goal of Neuralink is to enhance how our brains function by adding a third artificial processing layer. Musk says Neuralink will do this by symbiotically merging the human brain with super digital intelligence. This tertiary cognition layer will augment the human cortex and the limbic system as a third layer.
If you can’t beat it, join it
Elon Musk has been preaching the dangers of artificial intelligence for years. Musk believes that artificial intelligence is coming and that it represents a danger to humanity. He says nobody is listening to him, so, his solution is to join artificial intelligence to avoid being replaced by it.
His reasoning is simple: If technology is set to take over humanity, we can be in a better position if we are merged with technology.
Elon Musk believes that we must become like cyborgs in order to survive the upcoming artificial intelligence revolution. The AI is already here. Our slow-moving human brains will shortly become obsolete, as machines and robots are rapidly coming to replace us. So, the only way out for us humans is to merge ourselves with machines.
We will be cyborgs
Elon Musk thinks we are already cyborgs today. Our smartphones and computers have become extensions of our bodies. They already enhance our capabilities. Data transfer is the major bottleneck now in the communication between humans and their digital devices. Elon Musk thinks Neuraling will eliminate this bottleneck altogether with digital implants that read our minds.
Musk says:
“It’s mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself — particularly output. Some high-bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem.”
His ultimate goal is to “live in symbiosis”:
“This is going to sound pretty weird, but ultimately, we will achieve symbiosis with artificial intelligence.”
In practice, this means later versions of Neuralink will allow humans to boost their intelligence to ‘superhuman’ levels. The combination of the human brain and artificial intelligence capabilities will bring endless possibilities and breakthrough progress. This will result in a new era of superhuman intelligence. It is difficult to imagine how this will play out. How will we experience an intelligence explosion and singularity? This remains unknown.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink gives us the first glimpse at a futuristic device that will unleash a new era of disruption. As the unprecedented progress of artificial intelligence continues, we will be closer to singularity more than ever. We will experience a new era of cognitive enhancement and superintelligence.
What are the implications? Where are we headed?
If Elon Musk is successful in his audacious vision and Neuralink achieves its long term goals, we can expect the following:
- Millions of people will eventually want to become cybernetically enhanced.
- If you go for this technology, you will have implantable devices that let you control computers or phones with your mind.
- You will be able to input words into a text message or email simply by thinking them.
- You can move a cursor with a mouse and navigate web pages mentally.
- You will have an artificial internet-connected overlay to your brain that will enable you to interface with future intelligent machines.
- You will be walking around with supercomputers implanted inside your head.
- You will be able to sharpen your mind and increase your memory retention with an app on your phone.
- You will be able to stream music and movies directly into your brain.
- You will be able to change your mood at the flick of a switch. You will be able to stimulate the release of oxytocin, serotonin, and other chemicals when needed.
- You will be able to get the effects of drinking coffee without actually drinking it. The same goes for chocolate, cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. You can digitally get their app versions for a couple of bucks.
- You will be able to integrate Neuralink into gaming systems so you could viscerally feel the action and immerse yourself in that world.
- You can also use a neural implant to amplify on-screen emotions when are watching movies.
- You can store, download, and access your memories. Think of the grain episode of Black Mirror getting real.
- You will no longer be purely biological but more like a human cyborg.
- You will be able to move objects with the power of your mind (through the cloud and Internet of things, of course).
- Matrix movie will be your real life. You will be able to download a new language into your brain.
The Start of a New Era: Brain to Brain Communication
Brain to brain communication will change everything as we know it. You will be able to share your thinking directly with another human being. You will be able to communicate telepathically, without words. This means you will be able to co-author ideas with others in real-time. Sharing a broad bandwidth of ideas will feel natural, instantaneous, and addictive. We will witness Empathy 2.0.
Human to human sharing and collaboration will be amplified by this technology. The depth and variety of conversations among humans will be unheard of. This means a communication revolution and a renaissance in collaboration. The pace of innovation will be amplified by 100X or 1000X, as the number of conversation possibilities will skyrocket.
Telepathy will be ultimately possible through technology. Currently, we are constrained by the limits of traditional communication — which is too slow and cumbersome. Imagine huge bandwidths transferring messages, thoughts, and ideas from brain to brain. We will be able to transfer our thoughts instantly, which will tremendously increase the speed of our communication.
The Risks will Be as Huge as Benefits
Obviously, these goals are very ambitious and risky. They are aimed at changing human civilization and society as we know it. This raises many questions on ethics and responsibility. One of the biggest future concerns is about inequality:
- Who will get access to this technology? Those who are privileged can augment themselves to become superhumans. They will be able to tap into the tremendous power of AI technologies such as GPT-3. This means they will access super-intelligence. This will enable them to get better jobs, make more money, and have a higher quality of life.
- What happens to those who are too poor, unfortunate, or marginalized? There is already a huge divide between the rich and the poor, and what happens when this gap becomes amplified by super-intelligence?
Elon Musk’s words on Neuralink’s tertiary layer:
“This is not a mandatory thing. It is a thing you can choose to have if you want. This is something that I think will be really important on a civilization-level scale.”
Elon Musk says that Neuralink is not mandatory, but when you think about it, it kind of will be mandatory. Imagine every other person around you has a brain with superintelligence capabilities and functioning at the speed of quantum computers. You would want this for yourself if you want to be employable in this new reality.
There are a number of additional serious risks.
- Our brains are very sensitive and full of mysteries. What will happen when we add Neuralink to our brains? This is a very complex problem with a long list of problems and unintended consequences.
- Ransomware is a huge problem even now. Imagine what happens someone hacks your brain — this will be an existential threat then.
- Cyberpunk issues and threats might be real. The risks narrated in the dystopias of Black Mirror, Blade Runner, or Altered Carbon might be relevant. There might be a breakdown and radical changes in the social order. Manipulating the brain, consciousness, or memories might be real concerns.
In any case, history is being written. If you think the scenarios above are impossible or far off, think again. Everything is super-accelerated and there will be revolutionary advances across these fields of artificial intelligence and brain-machine interfaces in the next few decades. It is a great time to be alive.
The live webcast will begin at 23.00 London time and 15.00 Pacific time today, and you can follow it from Neuralink web site:
In the meantime, feel free to catch up with this topic through the following videos:
Finally, here is a fascinating dive and masterclass on this topic from Wait But Why: