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Will it Happen? Elon Musk Says Human Trials of Neuralink Could Start Soon

Writer's picture: Kayla WilliamsKayla Williams

"Elon Musk and the Neuralink Future" by jurvetson is licensed under CC BY 2.0


On January 31st, the business magnate Elon Musk told approximately 30,000 listeners on Clubhouse, an invite-only app, that his Neuralink company’s chip implant aided a monkey in playing video games using its mind. Although there has been no proof that this event has transpired, it has sparked people’s interest. Supposedly with the implant's success in animal testing, Elon Musk said Neuralink is working to start their human trials by the end of the year, which he once stated would begin at the end of 2020.

What sparked the announcement of human trials starting was one Twitter user, Hamoon Kamai, who directly tweeted at Musk and Neuralink, making it clear that he would volunteer for clinical studies once they started. In Musk’s reply, he stated Neuralink is working “super hard” to ensure the safety of the chip. He went as far as to disclose that they are in “close communication” with the FDA and that trials could start at the end of the year.



Retrieved from Twitter by Kayla Williams


With all these claims coming out creating excitement for some and unease for others, it’s important to lay out what we do know about the Neuralink Corporation and what does starting human trials actually mean.

Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk that consists of a team of experts in different areas such as neuroscience, biochemistry, robotics, applied mathematics, machinery, etc. Their focus is on developing implantable brain–machine interfaces (BMIs), designed to assist in researching, mapping, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.

Elon Musk once explained that his long-term goal is to achieve “symbiosis with artificial intelligence” as he believes that if not handled properly, AI could endanger the human race.

In the short term, the company’s goal is to make devices that can help treat serious injuries and or cure paralysis, deafness, blindness, and other disabilities. Musk said he thinks Neuralink will “solve” diseases, naming autism and schizophrenia. However, autism is not a disease.

In August 2020 at a Neuralink live demonstration, Musk described the device as something like a, “Fitbit in your skull,” which will be inserted behind the ear while electrodes are threaded into the brain by the robotic electrode inserter as mentioned in the white paper that Elon and Neuralink released in July 2020.

In the midst of all the wonderful aspirations and advancements Neuralink has in the works, there lies in the background much criticism of these claims among publications and neuroscientists. There is this feeling in the neuroscience community that the Neuralink Corporation is

neuroscience theater, over-hyped, and or coated in the allure of Elon Musk storytelling.

In MIT Technology Review, they stated “that most of the company’s medical claims remain highly speculative.” and that “none of these claims are close at hand.” Part of the criticism comes from Musk’s clever avoidance of laying out clear timelines or committing to schedules on questions such as when Neuralink’s system might be tested in human subjects. Since this is the second time Musk declared testing on human subjects, we aren’t sure if testing in fact will take place.

From a monkey’s playing games in their mind to transhumanism, Neuralink has a clear desire to change the world drastically. Although testing claims to start sooner than later, the truth is we really can’t take it at face value until it happens.


Resources:


“Elon Musk’S Neuralink Is Neuroscience Theater”. MIT Technology Review, 2021, https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/30/1007786/elon-musks-neuralink-demo-update-neuroscience-theater/.Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

Musk, Elon. “An Integrated Brain-Machine Interface Platform With Thousands Of Channels”. 2019. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, doi:10.1101/703801. Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

“Neuralink”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuralink. Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

“Elon Musk Believes AI Could Turn Humans Into An Endangered Species Like The Mountain Gorilla”. Business Insider, 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ai-could-turn-humans-into-endangered-species-2018-11. Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

Hamilton, Isobel. “Elon Musk Said His AI-Brain-Chips Company Could ‘Solve’ Autism And Schizophrenia”. Business Insider Australia, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-said-neuralink-could-solve-autism-and-schizophrenia-2019-11?r=US&IR=T. Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

Dvorsky, George. “What To Know About Neuralink, Elon Musk’S Brain-Computer Interface Project”. MSN, 2020, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/what-to-know-about-neuralink-elon-musk-s-brain-computer-interface-project/ar-BB18k8XW. Accessed 6 Feb 2021.

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