Entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk sat down with podcaster Joe Rogan to discuss the future of AI and its impact on the symbiosis between man and machine.
In their discussion, Musk confirmed that the secretive brain stimulation link Neuralink, which he co-founded, is close to starting testing in living people.
“We’re not testing people yet, but I think it won’t be too long. We may be able to implant a neural link in less than a year in a person I think,” Elon Musk told Rogan.
Back in July 2019, the company announced plans to shoot holes in the participant’s skulls with lasers and insert elastic threads of electrodes into their brains.
During his most recent discussion with Rogan, Musk disclosed that the company’s implant is about one inch in diameter and needs to be injected by removing a small part of the skull.
Musk overlooked the dangers involved with such a procedure, saying that there is “a very low for potential risk for rejection [of the body].”
“People put in heart monitors and things for epileptic seizures, deep brain simulation, artificial hips and knees that kind of thing,” he said, noting that “it’s well known what is cause for a rejection or not.”
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Musk said. Referring back to his timeline of testing within a year, he noted that “we have a chance of putting a link in someone and having them be healthy and restoring some functionality that they’ve lost.”
The main goal is to restore functionality to the brain. For example, those with Alzheimer’s may have their memories restored.
“We are already a cyborg to some degree. You got your phone, you got your laptop… If you’re missing your phone, it feels like missing limb syndrome,” Musk told Rogan.
What is Neuralink for?
Elon Musk’s Neuralink is building tech to control computers with your mind. … It’s building a device that’ll let you control computers and phones with your brain.
As per Bloomberg’s report, right now it can ‘read’ a rat’s mind with the help of tiny electrodes implanted into the animal’s neurons and synapses.
The chip could potentially be used to restore eyesight, hearing, and limb movement in addition to addressing diseases that affect the brain, Musk claims. The device would be implanted directly into the skull to enable electrode threads to interface with certain areas of the brain, according to Musk.
