NEURALINK
Tesla billionaire Elon Musk is known for high-profile companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter too however the billionaire additionally has a handful of uncommon ventures. One them, he says, he commenced to in the future achieve “symbiosis” between the human brain and artificial intelligence.
Neuralink is Musk’s neural interface technology company. Simply put, it’s far technology that might be embedded in a person’s brain, wherein it can report brain interest and probably stimulate it. While Musk likes to speak up about his futuristic imagination and prescience for the technology, merging human attention with AI, the tech has lots of near-term medical applications which include the remedy for Parkinson’s disease.
Here’s everything you need to know about Neuralink:
NEURALINK CHIP: WHAT IS IT?
Neuralink was founded quietly under the radar in 2016. Neuralink’s device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be sent to devices such as a computer or phones. It’s an artificial intelligence-powered microchip that can read and record brain activity. It can be used to help disabled people to move or communicate properly and other things. Interestingly, the chip will also allow anyone with “mind paralysis to use a smartphone faster than someone with thumb,” Musk said in 2016.
The company hopes that a person will be able to use a mouse, keyboard, or other computing function, such as text messages, with their thoughts.
NEURALINK: HOW IT WORKS?
Neuralink’s system consists of a computer chip attached to tiny flexible threads that are sewn into the brain by a robot similar to a sewing machine. The robot removes a small piece of the skull, attaches the wire-like electrodes to specific areas of the brain, sews up the hole and all that remains is a scar left from the incision.
Neuralink’s approach involves not only intercepting movement commands from the brain and redirecting them to the legs but also listening to sensory signals from those extremities and sending them back to the brain so it knows what’s going on. This could control external technologies such as computers or smartphones, or bodily functions such as muscle movements.
NEURALINK: WHAT IT WILL DO?
The company has reportedly claimed that the chip can read your mind and even allow you to talk to machines without opening your mouth. Currently, the chip aims to enable people to control basic devices such as smartphones and computers.
I want to be extremely careful and make sure it’s working well before putting a device on a human,” Musk said during a highly anticipated public update of the device.
The company has been working on this technology for a long time and has also tested it on animals. The Neuralink chip was successfully implanted in the brains of a monkey and a pig.
We think that we should probably be able to install a Neuralink in a human in about six months,” Musk said at the Event. The company has claimed its latest technology can cure paralysis, blindness, memory loss, and other neurological conditions. able to restore vision, even in people who have been blind all their lives, and to treat brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.
NEURALINK: TRIALS OR TEST
Elon Musk has boasted several times that the company put the chip in a monkey, although neuroscientists aren’t too impressed. Elon Musk excitedly announced at the 2019 Neuralink presentation that the company had successfully implanted his chip in a monkey. “A monkey was able to control a computer with its brain, FYI,” he said, seemingly surprising Neuralink President Max Hodak. “I didn’t realize we would get that result today but here it is,” said Hodak.
In 2020, the company showed how one of its chips worked on a pig named Gertrude during a live demo.
The demo was a proof of concept showing how the chip could accurately predict the position of Gertrude’s limbs as she walked on a treadmill, as well as recording neural activity as the pig sniffed for food. Musk said Pig lived with the chip embedded in his skull for two months.
The implantation of neuron-brain interfaces in primates that allow them to control objects on screens has been done before and is awaited in any research aiming to one-day implant technology in human brains.
CAN THIS CHIP BE REMOVED? IS IT SAFE?
People who have been implanted with the Neuralink N1 chip can have it removed at any time, but this will almost certainly involve additional surgery and equipment costs. We assume there will be no additional charges if the chip needs to be removed due to problems. It can also be assumed that the chip will have to be removed anyway after 10 years of use.
Elon Musk has indicated that the potential side effects of either the installation or removal of Neuralink include some concerning ailments:
- Anxiety.
- Seizures.
- Depression.
- Insomnia.
- Extreme pain.
- Addiction.
- Memory loss.
- Hearing loss.
- Strokes.
- Blindness.
- Paralysis.
- Brain damage.
Elon Musk said human trials could start later this year, but he said the same thing last year.
But now, Musk’s Neuralink faces federal investigations and employee backlash over animal testing
Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal welfare violations following complaints from internal employees over rushed animal testing that causes unnecessary suffering and deaths.
In all, the company has killed about 1,500 animals after experiments since 2018, including more than 280 sheep, pigs, and monkeys, according to records verified by Reuters and sources with direct knowledge of the company’s animal testing operations. Sources said this figure is a rough estimate because the company doesn’t keep accurate records of the number of animals tested and killed. Neuralink has also researched rats and mice. The total number of animal deaths does not necessarily indicate that Neuralink violates regulations or standard research practices.
Many companies routinely use animals in experiments to improve human healthcare and are under financial pressure to get products to market quickly. Animals are usually killed when experiments are complete, often for postmortem examination for research purposes. However, current and former Neuralink employees say the animal death toll is higher than it should be for reasons related to Musk’s requests to speed up the investigation.
Here are four botched experiments. due to human error.
Four experiments involving 86 pigs and two monkeys have been compromised by human error in recent years.
The errors weakened the investigative value of the experiments and required repeat testing, resulting in the deaths of more animals, Reuters reported.
Even after failed experiments, Neuralink launches tests in quick succession before fixing issues in previous tests or reaching full conclusions. , resulting in the death of more animals Such issues could delay the company’s bid to begin human trials, which Musk said should begin within the next six months.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
What does a Neuralink do?
The Neuralink device has a chip that processes and transmits neural signals that could be transmitted to devices such as a computer or mobile phone.
Is Neuralink FDA approved?
The device, which is currently being developed by his company Neuralink, has not received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for sale, according to Christina Jewett and Cade Metz of The New York Times
Does Neuralink go in your brain?
Micrometer-sized threads would be inserted into areas of the brain that control movement. Each thread contains many electrodes and connects them to an implant called “Link”.
Can Neuralink chip be removed?
“Neuralink works well in monkeys and we actually run a lot of tests and confirm that it is very safe and reliable and that the Neuralink device can be safely removed.
Has Neuralink been tested on humans?
The company haven’t started clinical trials yet, so we don’t have data on safety in humans, but safety was at the heart of the design process.
Is Neuralink ethical?
Currently, all new medical devices and treatments must be tested on animals before they can be ethically tested on humans. Neuralink is not unique in this regard. At Neuralink, we are totally committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible.