What’s happening
Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced this week that his company Neuralink has successfully implanted a brain-computer interface device into a human patient for the first time.
The device, a disk the size of a large dime containing thousands of electrodes that can read brain activity, is designed to be implanted through a small hole in the skull by a special robot. Musk did not share any details about the procedure, other than saying this. First tests show “promising neuron spike detection” and that the patient was “improving.”
As science fiction as the concept sounds, the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) has been a serious scientific investigation for decades, and recent technological advances have led to some significant real-world breakthroughs in the last few years. Brain implants have allowed people with severe disabilities to communicate and browse the internet via computer, and even helped one man sip his beer by controlling a robotic arm.
Neuralink isn’t the only company working on BCIs, but it is unique when it comes to the scale of its goals. Other projects focus largely on developing systems that can support people with specific needs so they can interact with and navigate the world around them. Neuralink’s current research appears to have similar goals, but Musk, who has a well-documented history of making big claims that don’t come true, has a much loftier vision for what implants could do.
He envisioned a future in which average humans could use brain implants to seamlessly connect their minds to the internet at all times, making themselves smarter, achieving “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence, and even one day uploading their consciousness to robots.
Neuralink implants have shown some effectiveness in non-human trials. But like many of Musk’s business ventures, these gains were accompanied by intense controversy. The company has faced allegations that Musk’s demands for quick results forced Neuralink scientists to rush their experiments, resulting in unnecessary suffering and death among the pigs, sheep and monkeys used in its research. Neuralink was also reportedly fined by the federal government for violating rules regarding the transportation of hazardous materials.
Why is there controversy?
Brain implant technology is still in its infancy, but recent developments have increased the debate about what the devices can realistically do in the future and whether Musk’s ambitious dream for the future is something we might want.
Most brain researchers say there is good reason to hope that BCIs could be revolutionary for people with severely limiting physical and mental illnesses. But they also warn that there are important questions that need to be answered before it is possible outside of small scientific studies, such as uncertainty about how long the devices will last, practical difficulties that may limit the amount of data they can transfer, and more. Concerns about the safety of implantation surgery.
Skepticism is unsurprisingly much stronger when it comes to Musk’s bigger ideas about what brain implants could one day do to us; But there are also many experts who argue that the worst-case scenario is the one in which all their visions come true.
While the prospect of high-powered computers being connected to our brains is certainly exciting to some, polls show that most Americans are against the idea. Bioethicists worry that brain implants will allow for-profit companies to access our deepest thoughts, leaving us vulnerable to mental hackers, exacerbating inequality and making it impossible to disconnect from the online world.
what’s next
There are currently few details on where Neuralink’s BCI research will go next; these include how many people will receive implants and what specific measures will be used to determine whether the trial is successful. The work is expected to take six years to complete, according to the company.
Perspectives
The potential for people with severe disabilities is very real
“This technology and others like it could have broad applications for people with disabilities and can also impact healthy people. While it may not be the holy grail for people with paralysis, it certainly provides hope for people with severe disabilities.” — Mill Etienne, Forbes
There’s no way to know what’s truly possible until you try it
“The nature of science is this: you never know what’s around the corner. … These are scientific questions [for which] “I have no idea what the answer will be until we do the experiments.” — John Donoghue, neuroengineering researcher at Brown University, to Scientific American
Musk’s fantastical thinking sets a roadmap for real world-changing breakthroughs
“Musk is known for setting outlandish goals: He wants rocket company SpaceX to send humans to Mars. The idea of turning humans into cyborgs could be equally ambitious. Even if it falls short, much can be achieved along the way.” —Rolfe Winkler and Jo Craven McGinty, Wall Street Journal
We must not let fears about a future that will never happen hinder progress on things that can actually happen.
“The neuromodulator baby should not be thrown into the futuristic bathwater of those who promise to merge our minds with computers.” —Arthur Caplan, Michael Pourfar and Alon Y. Mogilner, Boston Globe
Our brain should not be constantly connected to the internet
“That sounds great, as long as the device doesn’t put people’s brains into the time-sucking distraction matrix we call the internet. “Far from improving our lives, this may be a step too far in being ‘connected’.” —Parmy Olson, Bloomberg
Brain chips will turn our private thoughts into a commodity for Big Tech to extract and sell
“The brain is not just another organ of the body; It is the organ that forms the human mind. This place should be the shelter of our identity. “You have to protect that, you can’t just start banking and sell brain data.” — Rafael Yuste, neuroscientist at Columbia University, told Nature
Implants could create a whole new class of haves and have-nots
“A society in which some people are cognitively advanced and others are not could create a class divide never seen before.” — Allan McCay, technology and ethics researcher, to the Washington Post
We must protect our mental privacy at all costs
“Our brains are the final frontier of privacy. They are the center of our personal identity and our most intimate thoughts. If that three kilos of precious goo in our skulls isn’t under our control, what is? — Sigal Samuel, Vox