Neuralink

Introduction to Neuralink

Back in 2016, Elon Musk co founded the company called Neuralink with the goal of merging the human brain with computers. The goal is to implant a tiny device behind a person's ear and then have electrodes connected to the brain which in term create a link between the computer and brain as depicted in Figure 1. By creating this like Musk said that the human brain and Artificial Intelligence could make possible a “symbiosis” between them. The possibilities that would be open due to this kind of technology would be controlling a computer with your brain, surfing the web and being able to get the answer in your brain just by thinking, and changing the TV channel. There are some negatives to this technology that could cause some issues like, the electrodes breaking only a few years after getting them possibly causing brain damage, the difficulties of sending and receiving signals from the brain, and if the brain can’t handle the amount of information it is receiving. 

All these things have to be in consideration when dealing with something as important as the brain and is very fragile. The most likely use in the coming future for Neuralink would be to give robotic limbs the real feelings of touch. This could be done by the chips recording which areas of the brain when we interact or touch things and then have the electrodes stimulate those areas to produce the sensation of actually touch. The goal of linking Artificial Intelligence to a human brain is slim but not impossible as technology advances, but the biggest concern is how would you secure the information in the person's brain and keep out potential threats like a hacker gaining control of the device and having access into that person's brain? That is going to be the biggest hurdle in this technology and will be a long time before it will be safe for humans to have as the norm.

2020 Update

In August of 2020, a large update was made regarding the progress of Neuralink.  The idea has become further developed and is becoming increasingly practical.  Physical design changed in a couple of different ways.  The device is no longer resting on the back side of the ear but is instead implanted on the top of the skull to be a neural implant.  The size of the device has decreased making it comparable to a coin that is attached by drilling into the skull and can be hidden under the skin.  The method of connecting to the brain has been developed.  When attached to the skull, the link has neural threads containing electrodes that connect to various parts of the brain and detect neural signals.  Robotic devices are used to connect the hundreds of micro threads to the outside surface of the brain from the link device.  Before this comprehensive update, the link would need to be pulled in directly.  Because the device is now an implant, the charging system is wireless using an inductive connection and charging the device from the outside of the skull.  The battery life is meant to last all day so that it can be charged overnight while sleeping (Neuralink.com). 

Testing

A demonstration was conducted using the V0.9 model alongside the release of the new design.  Two pigs were shown during the display, one that has had the Neuralink implant for two months and another that had its Neuralink removed two months prior (Etherington).  Being able to remove the device is an important factor when creating something as experimental as Neuralink.  In the demonstration, the device implanted on the pig was able to detect vital since such as heart rate which correspond with the movement of the animal proving there is a signal being transmitted and received. Another live experiment conducted on the pig showed the reception of a signal that indicated every time something touched the pig’s nose.  The signal was made by the brain and transmitted to a computer using the Neuralink (BBC.com).