Neuralink and the Smart Home

We are living in an age of extreme advances in technology and innovation. Every few months there is a new development, and each one is exciting to learn about.

Apple’s new M4 iPad Pro caused waves after its advertisement fell flat with many people as it seemed to suggest it was crushing creativity and the tools artists use.

But in truth, the new M4 iPad Pro is a wonder in innovation in terms of its incredibly powerful chip as well as its equally phenomenal size measuring at just 5.1mm thick.

According to Apple, “M4 has Apple’s fastest Neural Engine ever, capable of up to 38 trillion operations per second, which is faster than the neural processing unit of any AI PC today. Combined with faster memory bandwidth, along with next-generation machine learning (ML) accelerators in the CPU, and a high-performance GPU, M4 makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence.”

At the same time that Apple has been working on its M4 chip, Elon Musk’s company Neuralink produced a chip that can be implanted in the brain and provide its user the ability to control a computer using thoughts alone.

At the moment, the company is testing its technology. As announced on its website, “Neuralink is currently seeking people with quadriplegia to participate in a groundbreaking investigational medical device clinical trial for our brain-computer interface.”

According to Neuralink, the current version of the device — the N1 Implant — is an intracortical BCI implant designed to record neural activity through 1,024 electrodes distributed across 64 flexible leads, or “threads,” each of which is thinner than a human hair and capable of being placed independently in the brain.

Eventually, Neuralink sees a future in which millions of people have the implant installed, providing the ability to control computers with their imagination.

Now, let’s take this one step further.

Imagine a future in which people have the Neuralink transplant and can control their iPad Pro using their imagination. This technology could provide a breakthrough in creativity and productivity.

Whatever limits people have in terms of drawing or creativity can likely be corrected with the combined use of Artificial Intelligence and technology like Neuralink.

Writers no longer need to sit for hours in front of a computer. Why not jog or ride a bike while writing at the same time? If all you need to do is think about what you want to write, and since you can take your thoughts with you anywhere, you are limitless in terms of productivity.

You can write while mountain climbing, swimming, or just waiting in line at the supermarket. You can probably even use Neuralink while sleeping so technically you can write while you are dreaming. Artists can create all sorts of wonders in their sleep. With this technology, we may finally be able to understand what we dream about and what we think about while slumbering.

Or perhaps we’d rather not know.

Now, imagine that people can control their entire Smart Home system using Neuralink. Instead of using speech to say “Turn the lights on,” you can just think about it, and on they go.

Sitting on the couch and too lazy to get up? No problem. Just think about turning on the fireplace or the coffee machine. Done.

Naturally, this technology could become dangerous.

"A penny for your thoughts” will take on a whole new level of meaning if people can literally see or hear what you are actually thinking all the time. I imagine most people would prefer others don’t know what they are thinking.

Neuralink would need to have limitations in terms of what it can control and what thoughts it can reveal.

And if our thoughts are controlling computers, we would need to be limited to specific commands, otherwise, our vacuum might be made to assume it can iron and our coffee machine will think it’s a dishwasher.

Such technology could destroy the world as we know it.

But that’s what people said about computers and cell phones and pretty much every invention since the wheel.

It is more likely that Neuralink, the new iPad Pro, Artificial Intelligence, and the multitudes of other new technologies will only further enhance our already incredible universe.