There’s Nothing Novel About Neuralink’s Monkey Mind Pong
Meanwhile, the BrainGate already allows people to control a tablet computer with their mind
A macaque monkey named Pager stands in front of a screen. His paw holds a joystick while he sucks on a shiny metallic straw. On the screen, we see a dot and an orange square. Pager expertly manoeuvres the dot towards the orange square. Pager receives banana smoothies as a reward, which is delivered via a straw.
The narrator explains that a Neuralink implant collects signals from individual neurons. Using these signals, the implant predicts the direction that Pager wants to move the dot. After a while, Pager can play without a joystick. Pager can even play Pong using only his mind, as seen later in the video.
Monkey Pong Isn’t As Novel As You Think
Elon Musk aims to do with brain-computer interfaces what it did with the electric car. Instead of Tesla, the vehicle for this venture is Neuralink. As I’ve written before, Elon Musk has a history of not delivering on unrealistic promises.
Other tech businesses might also engage in these activities. I am not blaming Elon Musk in particular. However, it is irresponsible and unethical when we are working on health innovations.
Sharing the Monkey MindPong video builds more hype and anticipation. After all, a monkey controls a computer with its brain. But this method of sharing data and research isn’t standard. Many other commercial and research groups publish peer-reviewed papers on their technology. No, there’s no need to reveal the proprietary aspects of technology.
But is the latest in a line of sensationalist comments and neuroscience misunderstandings.
The MindPong video doesn’t tell us how well the monkeys perform, how well the Neuralink implant performs and doesn’t benchmark it against other technology. Given the statements Musk has given, I would think Neuralink would have broken more ground by now. In 2018, he told interviewers at Axios that:
The long-term aspiration for Neuralink would be to achieve symbiosis with artificial intelligence.
In 2019, Musk states Neuralink would cure many different brain diseases and disorders. This is a reductionist claim that these diseases are a result of brain cells misfiring.
In August 2020, he continued the Neuroscience Theater by showing pigs with implants. He showed their neurons firing on a screen to the audience. Musk proclaimed that these implants would be like ‘a Fitbit for the skull.’
This is the same year he spoke of a coming clinical trial in 2020. Yet, he showed no evidence that the Neuralink implant could restore brain function. He didn’t show paralyzed pigs or monkeys regaining the function of their bodies. Why haven’t they registered for a clinical trial? Besides, other groups are already doing this in humans (and publishing about it too)!
Other Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Already Tested in Humans
There are legitimate leaps and bounds that researchers made through brain-computer interfaces. I want to the end the article by introducing you to a slice of impressive research and innovation.
The wireless BrainGate system allows tetraplegic people to use tablet computers at home. In 2015, a paralyzed man used a brain-computer interface to drink beer from a robot arm. Moving a cursor on a screen with a brain-computer interface? That was accomplished in humans in 2006.
In 2021, there’s nothing special about a monkey playing Mind Pong. We’ll be waiting a long time for Neuralink-enabled texting. We are still far from reaching AI symbiosis, in spite of what you might be told.
