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Humanity's superhuman dream, Musk takes another step forward
Vivi 2020/08/29
Summary
Connecting the brain to a computer with Bluetooth and reading brain information in real time is Musk's latest step on the road to realizing the convergence of human and artificial intelligence.
On August?29, Elon Musk officially unveiled the latest generation of brain-computer interface products from?Neuralink: a coin-sized chip that can be implanted in the brain, the?N1, and a surgical robot, the?V2. Theoretically, they could allow people to remotely control devices such as cell phones or computers through their own minds.
Musk has predicted that AI?will surpass humans by?2025. He fears that if the technology to connect the human brain to computers is not developed, in the future?AI?could treat humans like pets, 'if you can't beat them, join them'.
This is the second launch of?Neuralink?since it was founded in?2016. Musk's goal in creating ?Neuralink? is clear: to allow the human brain to fuse with computers and become a 'cyborg', to help humans realize **** life with ?AI? and to avoid ?AI? posing an 'existential threat' to humanity.
The foreign media?Wait?But?Why?once commented, "Neuralink?has somehow managed to surpass the engineering challenges and achievements faced by?Tesla?and?SpaceX. While the other two companies aim to redefine what humans will do in the future,?Neuralink?is defining what humans will become in the future."
New advances in Neuralink?: Bluetooth connectivity, reading the brain
At the event, Musk demonstrated through a group of experimental pigs. An experimental pig named ?Gertrude? was implanted with ?Neuralink?s latest brain-computer interface chip two months ago. Through the chip on the surface of the brain, the pig's brain activity can be transmitted wirelessly to a nearby computer.
The experimental pig named?Gertrude?has the brain-computer interface chip right on its brain, and the surgical wounds have been harder to discern
Unlike the first version of the product, which was shown in?2019, the Neuralink?device has been able to be implanted so completely into the surface of the brain that it is hard to see from the outside.
The reason why pigs were chosen for the experiment was explained by Musk as the fact that their dura mater and skull structure is similar to that of humans, allowing them to be trained to walk on a treadmill or perform other experiments.
In 2019, Neuralink?s first-generation products will also need to connect an animal brain to a computer via?USB-C?for data transfer and charging
The previous generation, on the other hand, needed to install a?USB-C?port on the brain to make the connection. That's a huge improvement by comparison, Musk said, "It's like a ?Fitbit? on the skull connecting the brain through tiny wires." ? He said the device can pair with a cell phone?app?within?10?meters via low-power Bluetooth. But officials say they are also looking for other viable communication methods that could dramatically increase the amount of data transferred in the pathway.
Neuralink's fully packable?N1?brain-computer interface chip
The N1?chip can be configured and upgraded through an?App? According to?Neuralink, the N1?takes just?900?nanoseconds to read out neural data and send it out.
The N1?implanted chip is ?23?millimeters in diameter and ?8?millimeters thick, and connects to the brain through ?1024?electrodes that communicate with brain cells. The chip is so powerful that it can sense temperature air pressure and read brain waves, pulse and other physiological signals, and of course it has wireless charging capabilities.
Musk was on hand to show off a coin-sized brain-computer interface chip, the?N1
One of Neuralink's aspirations is to enable quadriplegics to "ideate" typing, at?40?words a minute. Neuralink didn't invent the brain-computer interface, but in fact has been experimenting with one since?2006, when a team implanted one into the human brain. In fact, since 2006, teams have been experimenting with brain-computer interfaces implanted into the human brain to help paralyzed people regain consciousness and mobility. Neuralink's contribution is that they have greatly simplified the size and difficulty of implanting brain-computer interface devices.
Iterated and upgraded robot for brain-computer interface surgery?V2
To that end, Neuralink?has also upgraded its robot specifically for brain-computer interface surgery,?V2, which is capable of performing all the steps involved in uncovering the scalp, removing a small portion of the skull, and connecting the chip, along with the accompanying thousands of microelectrodes, to the brain cells (inserted at a depth of about ?6?millimeters), before proceeding to closure and all other steps. This surgical robot is described as being able to connect wires to different locations and depths. The diameter of the wires is a quarter of a hair (4? to ?6 μm), and the machine can insert ?6? wires containing ?192? electrodes per minute at high speeds. v2?'s designers revealed that the robot can 'see' the entire brain through machine vision.
Musk said Neuralink?s total solution could make the process of accessing brain-computer interface devices as simple and safe as ophthalmic surgery, which in the future could be done in ?1?hour, without general anesthesia, "it avoids blood vessels," and could be discharged the same day.
The future of brain-computer interfaces: saving paralysis, copying memories
Brain-computer interfaces, in addition to carrying Musk's dream of saving mankind, the main direction of research is still in the field of medical rehabilitation, and Neuralink?is the same.
Like the?Fitbit, Apple?Watch?and other wearable smart products, Musk feels that the?Neuralink?chip can also measure data related to temperature, pressure and movement to alert people to the risk of heart attack or stroke.
'Neurons are like electronic circuits, and you need some kind of electronics to solve electronic problems,' Musk said at the launch event, talking about the potential of brain-computer interface technology to address brain injuries and other diseases.
Neuralink?s initial clinical trials will be conducted in a small number of patients with severe spinal cord injuries to ensure its effectiveness and safety. Before the launch, he had said on ?Twitter? that "Neuralink?has the potential to help people with brain damage, autism and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, trophoblastic)."
Musk's blog, The Joe Rogan Show, has said the brain-computer interface device can fix any brain problem, including improving vision and hearing, restoring limb function, treating Alzheimer's, detecting and stopping epileptic seizures, and curing strokes.
The San Francisco?Pioneer?Building, where Neuralink?s offices are located, is used in conjunction with Musk-founded?openAI?***
Neuralink?s devices are currently suitable for adults, and corresponding enhancements reportedly disappear when the chip is removed.
Last year, Musk said he hoped to begin clinical trials on humans by the end of?2020. However, while?Neuralink?has been granted "breakthrough device status" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that doesn't mean it's been approved for human trials. As a result, Musk wants to conduct human trials in China or Russia.
On the left is?Neuralink?s previous-generation brain-computer interface solution, which requires a device to be worn behind the ear; on the right is the newest solution, which requires only a single chip
Additionally, discussing the future uses of?Neuralink, Musk said that, "In the future, people will be able to preserve and recover memories. We can use the machine as a backup tool for human memories and even download them to new human subjects or robot subjects."
"This device may be very expensive when it is first introduced, but I hope to bring it down to thousands of dollars in the future. It's as easy to obtain as people have eye surgery."
For example, the cost of last year's first version of the sewing robot has been reduced from ?10?plus million dollars to ?500?000 dollars. In this way, Musk said, Neuralink?will also transform itself from an expensive research project into a consumer electronics company.
The 'cyborg' process
Compared to a product launch in ?2019?this demonstration means ?Neuralink? is one step closer to the future Musk envisions.
But while the demonstration, which was carried out via piglet ?Gertrude?, showed that neuronal activity can be transmitted wirelessly to a computer, it didn't show the real future of brain-computer interfaces that ?Neuralink? envisions. For example, computers sending commands to the brain efficiently and computers being able to understand what the peaks of neuronal activity really represent.
Musk was candid about the fact that, like last year's launch, the event was largely about attracting and recruiting more talent to the team, which currently employs about ?100?people at Neuralink. Eventually, he hopes to hire?10,000?more employees.
The movie "Alita: Battle Angel" featured a cyborg protagonist, which may be the future of humanity.
As Musk said, the brain-computer interface is just one small step toward what he hopes?Neuralink?will achieve. In the long run, he wants to develop a device that will enable '**** birth' between humans and?AI?
The brain-computer interface is, on the one hand, 'opening up' the secrets in the brain, allowing more data to be captured in the organism; on the other hand, it can connect to supercomputers that are stronger than the human brain, and to machinery that is stronger than the human body.
In the future, will humans actually become like the protagonists in the movies "Alita," "Attack on Titan," and "The Matrix"?
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