On Elon Musk's Brain-Computer Interface and More
Photo by Daniel Öberg
Last week, Elon Musk provided an update on Neuralink, a startup he co-founded in 2016 to develop brain-computer interfaces (BCI) to manage neurological conditions (e.g. Alzheimer’s, dementia, spinal cord injuries). Comments included:
“I’m really excited to show you what we’ve got, I think it’s going to blow your mind.
“All of your senses—your sight, hearing, feeling, pain—these are all electrical signals sent by neurons to your brain … if you can correct these signals, you can solve everything from memory loss, hearing loss, blindness, paralysis, depression, insomnia, extreme pains, seizures, anxiety, addiction, strokes, brain damage—these can all be solved with an implantable neural link.
“Everything that’s encoded in memory you could upload. You could basically store your memories as a back-up and restore the memories. And ultimately, you could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body. The future is going to be weird.”
Note: Musk demonstrated a BCI embedded in a pig’s skull to collect neural data from the animal.
Separately, comments from the RAND Corp. report “Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Coming. Will We Be Ready?” (Aug. 27, 2020) included:
“Most BCI technologies are still in the early stages of development and are actively being researched and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army Research Lab, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and other organizations. With the power of BCI tools, the U.S. military could potentially enhance the physical and cognitive power of its personnel.
"BCI technology allows a human brain and an external device to talk to one another—to exchange signals. It gives humans the ability to directly control machines, without the physical constraints of the body.
“BCI could also provide major medical benefits in the military and civilian worlds. For instance, amputees could directly control sophisticated prosthetic limbs. And implanted electrodes could improve memory for people dealing with Alzheimer's disease, stroke, or head injuries."
OUR TAKE
As many digital health efforts focus on ways to leverage smartphones and fitness trackers, BCI suggests that a new wave of digital health innovation is on the horizon.
BCI technologies can lead to enhancements in human performance (medical, sports, communication, monitoring, etc.) while introducing public-policy, legal, and ethical issues.
Bringing BCI solutions to market will require: 1) interdisciplinary talent from neuroscience, computer/data science, material science and 2) businesses managing the tension between scientific research and commercialization efforts.