Elon Musk to soon give update on brain-computer interface company
A year ago, Elon Musk's secretive start-up Neuralink revealed how it plans to "connect humans with computers" with a novel brain-computer interface (BCI). Now, the billionaire tech mogul has announced that the company will share a "progress update" next month, presumably, detailing the development of its technology and how far it has come with its use. Here's more about it.
Update on August 28, Musk said on Twitter
In a couple of tweets, shared a few hours ago, Musk said that Neuralink will give a 'progress update' on August 28. He did not say anything about what the company planned to showcase, but he emphasized on its mission statement — "If you can't beat em, join em." Neuralink's last progress update came in July 2019.
Here are Musk's tweets
Back then, Neuralink had unveiled threads for man-machine link
During its 2019 event, Neuralink had demonstrated the plan to implant thin and flexible threads deep into the human brain. The company had said, these implants, inserted with the help of a sewing machine-like robot, would use an array of electrodes to read and transmit brain signals to a receiver on the skull's surface, which would then forward them to a computer system wirelessly.
Human tests were scheduled for this year
Last time around, Neuralink had also claimed that its BCI was successfully tested on mice and apes, and the work would move to first human subjects in 2020. This means at the upcoming event, we may get some news around that human-computer connection or the evolution of the technology, which could have become less invasive than surgically implanted needles now.
But, what is the point of all this?
Co-founded in 2016 by Musk and led by Jared Birchall, Neuralink hopes to use this BCI to enable a seamless connection between man and machine and then use the same to restore broken brain functionalities. For instance, it may restore memories of people suffering from Alzheimer's, bring back limb function for people suffering from paralysis, or revive their ability to see, talk, and listen.
Ultimate goal to establish a symbiosis with AI
The developments with this BCI technology will ultimately build towards a system that will help Neuralink "achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence". This would help humans keep up with the advancement of AI and ensure the "democratization of intelligence" by keeping it from staying in a purely digital form. Musk says this particular symbiosis could be a reality in the order of a decade.
