Elon Musk’s Neurotechnology Company Neuralink is at the forefront of brain-computer interface (BCI) research, working on a computer chip designed to be implanted into the brain and monitor the activities of thousands of neurons. This device, Musk hopes, will build a bridge between the mind and AI and revolutionize how humans interact with computer technology. Musk has dubbed the technology “neural lace,” and while there are many possibilities on the horizon, from treating paralysis to providing humans with superhuman vision, the ability to read people’s minds with these BCIs is still a far-off notion.
Neuroscientists Giacomo Valle of the University of Chicago and Juan Alvaro Gallego of Imperial College London agree that the current capabilities of BCIs are limited, as the concept of thoughts being stored in the brain has yet to be truly understood. Nonetheless, there have been some breakthroughs, whereby paralyzed patients can use BCIs to communicate and more recently, Nathan Copeland was able to shake Barack Obama’s robotic hand, feeling it as if it were human skin, thanks to stimulation of the sensory cortex with a BCI.
Despite the potential of BCIs to change patient’s lives, experimentation of this tech in humans is still at a research stage, with Neuralink’s application to the US Food and Drug Administration to test the technology being rejected due to safety concerns. Even though the invasive procedure required to wire a BCI up to the brain carries potential risks such as infection and immune rejection, Neuralink is reportedly seeking permission to conduct human clinical trials later in the year.
The implications of this technology are far-reaching, which is why neuroethics have become a primary concern for researchers and government agencies alike. Discussions of privacy and societal inequality will need to be in consideration if neurotechnology becomes widely used, especially if data from BCIs can be directly input into the brain.
Ultimately, it is up to us as a society to ensure that this technology is used in beneficial ways, so that it won’t be in vain that science fiction like “Brave New World” and “1984” provided us with warnings about the dangers of surveillance and technological control.
