Only a week after scientists discovered “ground-breaking bio-synthetic material,” that can be used to merge artificial intelligence with the human brain, Elon Musk’s ambitious neurotech firm, Neuralink has announced it will demonstrate a working device over a live stream this Friday.
Presumably, the firm will be showing off a Brain-Machine Interface, which Musk hopes in the future will allow humans to keep up with AI – Neuralink’s mission statement is, “If you can’t beat em, join em,” after all. But, for now, it will probably be used to let people control phones or computers with their mind.
According to The Verge, this progress update will include “the unveiling of a second-generation robot designed to attach the company’s technology to the brain, and a demo of neurons ‘firing in real-time’.”
Musk is pushing to advance the human in the race against AI, which he believes will come to a head in the next five years if we don’t act soon enough. At the minute, though, Musk is focused on creating chips that can help medical patients, such as paralyzed individuals and those with neurological disorders. The multi-billionaire entrepreneur has been welcomed into the science community, although many think his goals are little out of reach, especially in terms of the timescales.
According to Musk, the procedure of implanting the chip will be as seamless as Lasik eye surgery and will be done by a robot, but they’re not quite there yet. The start-up’s only other public event showed off a “sewing machine-like” device which is capable of stitching threads into a person’s head.
Human trials were originally set to start at the end of this year, but there have been no updates on that so far.
