Neuralink: Elon Pledges to Get a Brain Implant

First of all, Elon Musk is once again making promises that he probably can't keep.

The billionaire has now made what is likely his most ambitious commercial promise to date.

In the past, he has predicted that Tesla's Cybertruck would go into production this year (spoiler alert: it didn't) and that he would create his own smartphone if necessary (spoiler alert: he probably won't).

It is said that research on human volunteers will soon begin at Musk's biotech firm Neuralink, which develops brain chips to restore function to crippled bodies.

In this Slogging thread, our community discussed Elon Musk's plan to test and implant neural-link chips in the Human Brain.

This Slogging thread by Valentine Enedah, Mahipal Nehra, Sara Pinto, and Mónica Freitas occurred in slogging's official #technology channel and has been edited for readability.

Valentine EnedahDec 3, 2022, 6:42 PM

Neuralink will test chips in human brains soon!😲
https://mashable.com/article/neuralink-human-tests-six-months-elon-musk

Valentine EnedahDec 3, 2022, 7:29 PM

Bloomberg claims that Musk made the statement during a nearly three-hour-long hiring event for Neuralink on Wednesday. You can watch the full event in its entirety on YouTube.

Musk suggested during the event that human trials may begin within the next six months, assuming the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the device, which is about the size of a small stack of pennies and would be inserted into the brain by a robot performing surgery.

Valentine EnedahDec 3, 2022, 7:29 PM

According to Musk, the company is also developing devices to give the blind their sight back and paralyzed individuals their ability to move.

The implanted device would supposedly enable wireless communication between the brain and a computer.

Even Elon Musk hinted that he might eventually get one implanted.

Valentine EnedahDec 3, 2022, 7:31 PM

He also responded to a tweet:

Valentine EnedahDec 3, 2022, 7:35 PM

To be very honest, This is a big deal and I will just ask, Is this ethically acceptable?

Are people meant to try this?
What do you think?

Mahipal NehraDec 5, 2022, 12:03 PM

Elon musk is going to change the world on the basis of workforce and talent pool.

Valentine EnedahDec 5, 2022, 1:53 PM

@Mahipal Nehra Indeed! But I'm just worried about the approach in which he is taking.

Sara PintoDec 6, 2022, 11:11 AM

@Valentine Enedah, his words don't mean much by now.

I'll give him this: the thought behind it, it's pretty amazing. If this chip actually helps disabled people, it would be groundbreaking.

However, sounds too good to be true, and coming from him, we don't expect much.

Are there really volunteers already? I'm not sure if I would try it, at least for now. I think I would need to see some studies about this or results

Mónica FreitasDec 6, 2022, 2:16 PM

@Valentine Enedah, if Musk believes in his product so much, he should be the first to implant it. You can't expect people to try it out and chance such a tricky operation just because Elon thinks brain chips are IT.

As for the product itself, if it's capable of helping people with disabilities move again, sure, but where does the connection with computers come into play here?

Do we need to insert codes to have people move an arm? Or is it a control issue?

Valentine EnedahDec 6, 2022, 10:37 PM

@Sara Pinto I totally agree with you on this. I doubt there are volunteers. It's a risky one. I'm still looking at its possibilities but do you think its use cases are necessary or useful to society?

Valentine EnedahDec 6, 2022, 10:40 PM

@Sara Pinto @Mónica Freitas is not Elon's biggest fan currently.😂

I think there would be already pre-existing codes written for movement and other intricacies but I resonate with your perspective, it is not medically advisable to do that. Let Elon go first.

Sara PintoDec 7, 2022, 11:29 AM

I agree with Mónica Freitas too though. If he believes in the product and says that he would use it himself, then he should do it, and share the results and experience.

If the product proves to really be useful and fulfills its' purpose, then sure, I think it would be a great asset!

Valentine EnedahDec 7, 2022, 4:17 PM

Sara Pinto Mónica Freitas This is true. He should be the first person to demo this right.

There was a video that came up with regard to the chip. A monkey playing Mind pong.

It was mind-blowing.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsCul1sp4hQ

Mónica FreitasDec 7, 2022, 5:37 PM

@Valentine Enedah I think with these types of inventors, there's a reluctance to put their money where their mouth is.

They claim their product to be great but wouldn't put themselves through it, especially in a trial phase. And ethically, that makes no sense to me.

If you think something is that good, earn the public's trust by going through the procedure yourself. Otherwise, you're just saying you don't really trust your product and the professionals you chose to support it

Valentine EnedahDec 8, 2022, 2:18 AM

@Mónica Freitas You have a great point. This is ideally the right step to follow for any founder that would want people to trust their product.

I also came across a paper that talks about some patients with Parkinson's disease having a device implanted in their brain to send electrical pulses that control tremors and improve motor control.

Medical researchers and device developers aim to use brain chip implants to help people with paralysis.

Link: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/public-cautious-about-enhancing-cognitive-function-using-computer-chip-implants-in-the-brain/

Mónica FreitasDec 8, 2022, 12:39 PM

@Valentine Enedah I'm all up for medical advances. My concerns when it comes to brain chips are:

How we can make a chip card work, and be read by the human brain is beyond my understanding. I suppose it'd work on electrical impulses but still...

Valentine EnedahDec 9, 2022, 7:11 AM

@Mónica Freitas These are really good questions right. I did some research about these questions, and I couldn't get concrete answers but this is what I found.

How can you make sure that the procedure won't be worse than the disease? AKA how can we make sure the operation will be successful?

This will depend a lot on the medical practitioners to research effective processes to improve Brain Implant Surgeries.

Do we know that our body won't reject the chip?

It has to do with the material's composition. The majority of materials used in microchips are refined metals, which our bodies have not evolved to detect as foreign.

There is only a slight immunologic reaction and possibly some scar tissue. In essence, it is inert.

When compared to a similar-sized foreign tissue, the body detects the latter as foreign and initiates a series of immunologic responses to combat and reject it.

Can't this be achieved with a different strategy? A different piece of technology?

I haven't seen an alternative yet to this technology, and it is still in the process cause there are so many dangers to this technology.

Unfortunately, the effects of the implant burn out a human's system after six months to a year and kill them.

Nearly all implants require open brain surgery, but, in 2019, a company called Synchron was able to successfully implant a brain–computer interface via the blood vessels.

Mónica FreitasDec 9, 2022, 8:40 PM

@Valentine Enedah so we kinda have the technology for it but still no actual way of guaranteeing longevity or safe implantation procedures. For now, it's still a great concept with a long way to go. Thank you for doing that awesome research work

Valentine EnedahDec 10, 2022, 7:04 AM

@Mónica Freitas Sure, no problem. We actually look forward to seeing improved changes and also, Elon implanting his chip!