What Is Neuralink?

What is Neuralink? Normally, I would have waited to dive into this one, as the implications for humanity seem far off. But it’s 2024, and that sort of naivete is proving to be dangerous.

 

The Company

Neuralink was founded in 2016 by none other than Elon Musk and is based, as expected, in the Bay Area. Needless to say, the company is not selling baked goods. Its area of expertise involves implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).

 

The General Concept

BCIs are not new. The idea of having a message from the brain directly trigger an action on a computer has been studied in those with spinal cord injuries that prevent brain signals from getting to the muscles that usually perform such actions. This technology has often involved a bulky external apparatus with a generous collection of wires.

 

The Device

As is its prerogative, Neuralink tends to hold certain information close to the vest, meaning we mostly know what the company wants us to know.

What exactly is the deal with the Neuralink device?

To start, it is implantable. While not the first in this regard, it is still a far cry from the wired skull caps referenced above. The implantation process is carried out by a neurosurgical robot which places the device in the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls voluntary movement.

The hardware consists of a coin-sized centerpiece attached to tiny (as in microscopic) threads. Each thread has a certain number of electrodes which detect electrical activity in the brain. Per this NPR article, 64 threads amount to a total of 1024 electrodes, considered a healthy number as of this writing.

Communication with a computer or other entity is via (wireless) Bluetooth technology, and the battery-powered apparatus is also charged wirelessly. The gadget can be controlled using a simple smartphone app.

After being tried in other primates, the first Neuralink device—cleverly called Telepathy—was placed in a human in January 2024.

 

The Future

Up front, the plan is to study Telepathy in those with spinal cord injuries and other neuromuscular diseases that prevent desired movement. As mentioned, in bypassing nature’s pathways, direct communication between the brain and computer (via the simple desire to perform an action) can allow for typing and other computer-centric tasks.

But why stop there?

Although still in the realm of science fiction, the concept of human enhancement has been proposed. Why go through the hassle of turning on an appliance when you can just think about turning it on and get the same result? Similarly, why not merge humans with artificial intelligence and allow the brain to harness the power of large language models?

Again, for now, these latter capabilities remain a pipe dream (or nightmare). In addition to technological barriers, ethical considerations and more mundane risks like infection and brain damage will be rate-limiting.

 

So what is Neuralink? Ask ChatGPT.