2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Elon Musk founded Neuralink, a company that develops neurointerfaces for the treatment of diseases and, in the future, will work to improve brain performance by directly connecting the brain to a computer. Engadget reports this with reference to the Wall Street Journal.
Today, existing neurointerfaces are able to help in performing some tasks, but this, more often than not, bears little resemblance to the full-fledged "brain-to-machine connection" popular in science fiction. The data transfer rate for non-invasive interfaces is low and reaches one character per second, and the use of invasive interfaces is most often limited to research work, which deals with the performance of an applied task.
Neuralink is a California registered company that will do medical research. According to WSJ, the company plans to pursue developments in the treatment of epilepsy, major depressive disorder and Parkinson's disease. In this case, we are talking about both improving existing methods and developing neuroimplants. To date, the startup has hired several scientists specializing in neurophysiology and developing neurointerfaces.
In the long term, Elon Musk expects to create a high-speed neural interface that will allow people to directly connect to a computer without intermediate input-output means. Engadget notes that Elon Musk has previously said that, in his opinion, people in the future will need to find a way to improve brain performance through computers in order to keep up with machines. The inventor believes that the first necessary technologies will appear in four to five years, but there is still a long way to go before “connecting the brain to AI” directly.
Today there are successful examples of the use of neural interfaces in various fields. For example, the neurointerface made it possible to establish communication with patients with “locked-in person” syndrome. Also, the neurointerface already allows you to move paralyzed limbs with the help of an exoskeleton, control a bionic prosthesis, and even walk a completely paralyzed person, controlling a neuromuscular stimulation apparatus.
