“Micro chipped”
Photo by Pixabay: Neuralink Implantation Chips royalty-free stock illustration. Free for use & download.
By Scott Hamilton
In 2024 Elon Musk predicted that ‘hundreds of millions” of people will have his brain chips within the next 20 years. Neuralink, Musk’s brain chip company, moved from theoretical research into reality with its first medical implants taking place earlier this year. This is a quite remarkable achievement given all the hoops one must jump through to even manufacture a medical device that works external to the body. The MRI machine took several decades of research and development, from 1950 to first approved use in 1985. Neuralink accomplished the goal of first human trials in just over two-years, from February 2012 to May 2023.
I don’t think the most surprising thing about Neuralink was its rapid approval, but rather its future market. Initial testing is for repairing spinal cord injury and providing a mechanism for the brain to directly control robotic limbs. I agree that using this kind of technology to improve quality of life is probably a noble goal. If this was where the research was meant to stop we would have accomplished a great thing. However, from recent comments by Musk, the end goal may be much different than improving quality of life for those with disabilities.
Musk has made promises that patients will be outperforming pro gamers within two years, and that is not even his craziest claims. Musk claims that the only limiting factor of Neuralink becoming a direct link to Artificial Intelligence(AI), granting us unlimited access to information, is the “low data rate” of the human brain. He makes claims that, “Our slow output rate would diminish the link between humans and computers,” claiming that the AI may get bored waiting for information. He compares it to humans trying to communicate with plants. I’m not so sure how I feel about being compared to a plant when it comes to the ability to communicate in comparison to the performance of an AI.
I watched a series on Amazon Prime created by Amazon Studios and directed by Jeffery Blitz called “Upload.” It is the story of a future where you can pay to have your conscience uploaded to a virtual reality world. The only catch, you die in the process. It was a very interesting science fiction story, until you realize that it is actually one of the goals of Neuralink. The company has a goal of being able to upload your memories and feelings so you never forget them and eventually so that you can go on living in a virtual reality as long as you desire.
Neuralink and Musk are stating that the technology to either live in a virtual world or as a cyborg in the real world is not that far away. He is predicting 10 to 15 years. He knows the biggest factor is the communication rate and feels that it is a problem that can be easily solved. If we look at the history of computers, as an example, 15-years ago the fastest communication rate between two computers was 8.8 million bits per second and today we are getting 400 billion bits per second, which is a 4,545,350% increase. Musk expects the same increase in communication rates with Neuralink over the next decade.
Musk claims, “Bit rate and patient number will increase hyper-exponentially over the next 5+ years.”
This raises a question for me. If the technology was merely meant to improve the life of physically handicapped individuals, where are all the millions of new customers going to come from? You can very quickly begin to see that his intention is that everyone will want to be a patient of Neuralink. It is not about improving health, but more about improving human ability. This leads to a big question, “What would it take for you to get chipped?”
I can tell you for me that I will never allow a Neuralink implant in my body. Musk talks a lot about the ability of the brain to control the computer, but he never really talks about the ability of the computer to control the brain. It is obvious that if there are plans to upload memories so we never forget, that he must have a plan to download those memories. This leads to another question, “Where do the downloads stop?” Could the technology be used to fill your mind with the memories of another person? Or worse yet, replace all your memories with those of someone else.
The future of Neuralink sounds like a very scary science fiction story, but Musk is working hard to make it a reality. Is this a reality we really want? Until next week, stay safe and learn something new.
Scott Hamilton is an Expert in Emerging Technologies at ATOS and can be reached with questions and comments via email to sh*******@te**********.org or through his website at https://www.techshepherd.org.
