Connect a human brain to a computer: neurochip from Elon Musk

The most ambitious project of Elon Musk is not dedicated to space, satellites, Tesla or Mars, but to … an electronic neurochip! Perhaps very soon we will be able to cruise on a yacht or car with just the power of thought. The idea of ​​connecting the human brain and the computer no longer seems as a fiction – chip with the size of a coin will be implanted into the cerebral cortex. The Neuralink electronic chip, connected to the neurons of the brain, will be able to transmit signals via Bluetooth to a computer or smartphone.

The first machine that reads brain activity was created by German Hans Berger back in 1929. The encephalogram he invented, although with significant improvements, is still used by doctors today. Therefore, the fact of reading brain activity is not surprising.

Neuralink is a total of about 1,500 “neuron-thin” filaments with electrodes and a special robot that sews these filaments between blood vessels on the surface of the brain. The new technology makes it possible to read information from the brain, storing it, or rather “recording” it. The ultimate goal of this whole grandiose Mask-like venture is a renewed person, or rather a symbiosis of him and artificial intelligence. In theory, Neuralink could help paralyzed patients regain sensitivity, and with the help of the brain, they can control neuroprostheses.

The creators of Neuralink still have a lot to figure out and refine. It is still unclear how durable the sensor will be in the destructive conditions of the human body, because all modern brain implants work for a limited period of time, after which they fail. Will the device, which now only attaches to 1000 neurons, be able to extend its activity to all 80 billion that are in the human brain?

The topic of how Neuralink will help overcome insomnia, depression and dozens of other neurological disorders mentioned by Musk has not been disclosed, because the electrochemical processes that cause them are still unknown to science. However, not all experts agree that this can be achieved in the foreseeable future. Human brain activity is such a complex process that even with the use of the most modern technologies, humanity has comprehended only a small part of it. Neuralink could find a way to read brain signals, accelerating research in this area. However, understanding these signals is immeasurably more difficult, and manipulating them can be even more difficult.

Elon Musk believes that in the future, cars and people will become one. In addition to the advantages that are not yet completely clear, it is the person who will have to solve issues and problems of an ethical nature. For example, if the Neuralink chip is successfully created, affordable, efficient, and commercially successful, Musk will have access to an unprecedented amount of personal information. Who will use it and how?

Neuralink can be widely used in the military field. Back in 2015, a man with all paralyzed limbs was able to fly a plane in an aviation simulator using a device connected to his brain. The Pentagon ordered a study that found out that it is really possible to remotely control a drone using the power of thought.

If you connect the human brain to a computer, will this bring humanity the happiness? I don’t even want to think about hackers and penetrating directly into the brain. Is it possible to change a person with the help of advanced technologies? Transhumanists believe that the logical next step in the development of civilization will be the use of technological progress to improve the properties of the species and create a post human. Friedrich Nietzsche once said that if a man originated from a monkey, then a superman must arise from a man.

Well, let’s wait.