Theme:
- In January 2024, Elon Musk’s Neuralink startup implanted a chip named ‘Telepathy’ inside a human brain for the first time. It is announced that the patient is recovering well.
What is Neuralink project:
- The Neuralink project was started in 2016 to supercharge human capabilities and help people with neurological disorders.
- Elon Musk, the founder of Neuralink mentioned that AI may surpass human intelligence in the near future and hence there is a need to augment human intelligence using brain chips.
- The startup’s immediate goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts. That will be very helpful for people with paralysis to communicate with people.
- Their long term is to link humans with artificial intelligence to mitigate the risk of AI taking over the world in future.
- Experiments on pigs and monkeys have taken place already. A monkey, which was implanted with a brain chip could play a video game without using a joystick and only with thoughts.
- The chip will be recharged using wireless recharging technology.
Positive consequences of the project:
- If this succeeds in helping people with neurological disorders, and spinal injuries, it will drastically improve their quality of life.
Challenges:
- The telepathy chip has to be placed inside the brain, for which negative health consequences are not yet known. Moreover, the surgery is a very risky one.
- There is a possibility of the brain chip getting hacked.
- If this project can create a superhuman kind of people as some people are expecting, there is no guarantee that they will be ethical and will do good to society.
Conclusion:
Elon Musk’s Neuralink startup implanted a chip inside a human brain for the first time with the immediate goal of enabling people with paralysis to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts.
Your Turn…
What are your thoughts on the Neuralink project? Do you think it will lead to good outcomes? Express your point of view through the comment section below.
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