QPORIT

Elon Musk has been outspoken on the dangers of AI.  With Neuralink, a company he owns, he is jumping into AI, hoping, he says, that by creating a direct link between the human brain and a computer, we can combine our powers. (This is, literally: "If you can't beat'm, join'm.")

In the following video, Musk and members of Neuralink discuss the current state of brain-computer interface science and design. 

Basically:

• The current project includes developing an implant into the brain which can read electrical activity to understand what the brain is "thinking", and can also stimulate electrical activity in the brain to generate physical motions and other responses in the brain and the body.

• To implant the device, Neuralink is developing a robotic surgeon, since the accuracy required to place the implant correctly in the brain exceeds the capabilities of human surgeons.

• To understand the electrical signals created by the brain, and create the correct electrical signals to stimulate the brain to create the proper response, Neuralink is doing extensive research on AI that will enable machine learning.

The immediate goal of the project centers on helping patients with injuries such as damage to the spinal cord, and brain damage due to stroke that impairs muscle function.

Of course, both the benefits and the possible hazards of implanting an interface to a computer in the brain which has the power to "read minds" or commandeer a person's mind, are significant.  It has been explored in fiction. For example, this idea appeared in early Flash Gordon serials, and right now in the just published novel FALL by Neal Stephenson.


Here are some links to the video, Neuralink, and Elon Musk, plus an article from CNET about Neuralink:



NEURALINK VIDEO
https://youtu.be/r-vbh3t7WVI


NEURALINK - WIKIPEDIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink


ELON MUSK - WIKIPEDIA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk


CNET
https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-neuralink-works-monkeys-human-test-brain-computer-interface-in-2020

Labels: AI, BMI, brain, brain-machine interface, Elon Musk, machine learning, Neuralink