https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1485019174355279879 I saw this viral tweet yesterday. I noticed a few things about this tweet that stood out to me. The subject matter was the first thing that caught my attention. The tweet asserts that Elon Musk’s brain chip will be able to save, replay, and download human memories into a new body or a robot body. There were a few things about this tweet that seemed fishy to me. The tweet is from an unverified account. The quote at the end of the tweet is unattributed, and there are no citations or links in the tweet.
I did some digging and I found the source of the quote, which was from a 2020 Neuralink progress update. https://youtu.be/DVvmgjBL74w?t=2809 The quote did come from Elon Musk, but the tweet is still potentially misleading. The image used in the tweet is of an older version of Neuralink, and the quote at the end of the tweet is condensed without the use of ellipsis, which usually signifies the omission of a part of a quote.
The full quote from the Neuralink presentation is at 46:49- “I think in the future you will be able to save and replay memories. And I know this is obviously sounding a lot more like a Black Mirror episode but, well, I guess they’re pretty good at predicting. But yeah, essentially if you have a whole brain interface, everything that’s encoded in memory, you could upload. You could basically store your memories as a backup and restore the memories. And ultimately, you could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body”.
Notice that Elon Musk did not specifically say that Neuralink would have those capabilities. This quote makes me think that this quote is more speculative than anything. He is not asserting that Neuralink will have these capabilities, just that the technology could exist in the future. The quote is also from two years ago.
https://www.jmir.org/2019/10/e16194/ This article from 2019 outlines what Neuralink is, and how it will be implemented in the future.
So, what is Neuralink? Neuralink is essentially a chip that will be inserted into the human brain that targets different regions of the brain to treat neurological conditions and to restore different brain deficiencies. It uses tiny threads to stimulate parts of the brain to do this. In the article, it says that Neuralink is inserted into the brain using a robot. The robot is used for the insertion because it can be programmed to be extremely precise. The Neuralink chip is extremely small, so precision is important. The insertion of the chip will be guided by a surgeon, who could override the automated process and make tiny adjustments to the insertion.
Aside from the insertion of the Neuralink, Neuralink is designed to assist people in regaining basic motor functions if they are lost. For example, if someone lost their arm in a car crash, the Neuralink could help someone regain their sense of touch using a prosthetic arm. The article also demonstrated the technology hooked up to a rat, which was successful. Neuralink also demonstrated the technology working on a pig in 2020, and as previously mentioned, will be starting human trials this year.
That all being said, there is a lot of public skepticism of Neuralink. When the tweet mentioned earlier was posted, many of the replies compared Neuralink to a Black Mirror episode, much like Elon Musk did. I am among the people that are skeptical of the new technology. I have no problem with the intention. I think that the idea of using Neuralink to help people with disabilities is incredible, and should be offered to everyone. However, I don’t like the idea of using Neuralink for improving human functions. However, I don’t think there is any way that anyone but the upper class will have access to Neuralink any time soon. Neuralink cannot be cheap. I have no doubts that Neuralink will be available to people who can afford it in the very near future. However, many people in the US can hardly afford their medical bills as is. I don’t see a future where Neuralink is available for everyone who truly needs it. The way that I see it, Neuralink will only serve to further class inequality.
-Joseph
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