The Pong Playing Monkey Is a Big Deal

Summary

Neuralink's demonstration of a macaque playing Pong with its mind using a Brain Machine Interface (BMI) implant represents a significant advancement in neurotechnology with potential applications for humans with spinal cord injuries and beyond.

Abstract

Neuralink, a neurotechnology company, has showcased a remarkable breakthrough by enabling a macaque named Pager to play Pong using only neural signals, bypassing the need for physical movement. This was achieved through the use of a BMI implant known as The Link, which was surgically placed in Pager's brain. The technology interprets the brain's intentions and translates them into actions, offering hope for individuals with spinal cord injuries by potentially allowing them to control prosthetic limbs with their thoughts. While the project raises concerns about security and the ethics of brain implants, it also opens up exciting possibilities for treating mental health conditions by using signals to influence brain function. The surgical procedure for implanting The Link is designed to be highly precise and automated, addressing some safety concerns. Although the technology is still in its early stages, its potential applications are vast and could revolutionize the interaction between humans and machines.

Opinions

The author suggests that the BMI technology could be groundbreaking for people with motor disabilities, particularly those with spinal cord injuries.
There is an acknowledgment of the potential risks associated with brain implants, such as hacking, but Neuralink emphasizes robust security measures.
The article posits that the technology could extend beyond physical rehabilitation to mental health therapy, potentially aiding in the treatment of conditions like depression and PTSD.
The precision and automation of the surgical process for implanting The Link are presented as reassuring factors for potential users.
The author invites readers to consider the ethical implications and personal decisions regarding the adoption of such technology, weighing its pros and cons.
The article expresses optimism about the future of BMI technology, suggesting that it could significantly blur the line between human and machine capabilities.

The Pong Playing Monkey Is a Big Deal — Here’s Why

About a month ago, Neuralink uploaded a video on YouTube that took the internet by storm. The video featured a 9-year-old macaque, Pager, playing Pong.

What’s so special about the video?

We’ve seen monkeys do all sorts of things — even better than most humans we know. In the video, we can see that Pager is playing Pong using his joystick connected to the system, all while sipping the banana smoothie through the small pipe. In the latter half of the video, what Pager doesn’t realize is that the joystick isn’t plugged in anymore. He’s playing the game only using his mind, by using the neuro signals that are triggered while actually moving his hand to control the joystick. Telekinesis? Hell Nah.

Behind the scenes, all the magic is made possible by Neuralink’s Brain Machine Interface (BMI) implant, a small chip that is surgically implanted onto Pager’s brain.

From Bananas To MindPong

How did Neuralink achieve this impressive feat?

Pager wasn’t a natural Pong player. He was trained over a period of time to move the cursor on the screen to a highlighted part of a grid, using a joystick. Neuralink implanted their BMI implant, called The Link, on both sides of the macaque’s brain, to read and decode the signals that are sent by the brain to his hand to control the joystick.

To put it simply, the team at Neuralink decoded the signals from the brain while Pager was casually playing pong. This was used to train the software that would later use just the thoughts from Pager’s brain to move the cursor on the screen.

What It Means For Us

Sure, The Link helped Pager to play pong, but how do humans benefit from it?

Neuralink claims that the best application of the Brain Machine Interface is helping people with spinal cord injuries. Injuries to the spinal cord generally reduce the motor capabilities of the person (the ability to move or control the movement of his/her limbs). Using the capabilities of a BMI, Neuralink hopes to directly use the signals from the brain that helps people walk, run, stand up and sit, and from these signals control prosthetic legs and arms. Since the prosthetic limbs use the signals from the brain to work, it is exactly as if the brain is controlling the limb. The line between man and machine just keeps fading.

I know what you’re thinking. Sure, this seems like a scary project. I mean, to have a chip placed in your brain? What if I get hacked? Neuralink claims that security will be built into each layer of The Link, using cryptography and other defensive engineering techniques.

But think about the possibilities. Think backward. All this time, we’ve been talking about how the brain controls something. But what if we could use signals to teach our brain things? Think about it — therapy, overcoming mental illness, winning over depression, kicking PTSD in the ass — the possibilities are limitless.

The line between man and machine just keeps fading.

But yet, when you think about it, this experiment is every sci-fi movie where the tech goes wrong. Neuralink claims that the surgical process used to implant The Link on the brain is automated and extremely precise. The threads on the implant are so delicate that they cannot be inserted into the right places using human hands (yeah, like I would trust another human being with the fate of my brain). That said, this experiment is at a very early stage, but still, very promising.

Would you get The Link implanted on your brain? What do you think will be the pros and cons of this tech?