Technological advancements have always been fascinating to study. You must have a specific area in technology that you are interested in knowing about as well. Science fiction has been with us since the 1920’s, capturing people’s imagination by guessing what amazing technologies will dominant our lives in the future. Robots have been at the center of science fiction since quite some time as it is an area that catches everyone’s attention.
There is always this theme in science fiction on how robots can take over the world destroying humans. If not that, there is the possibility of how robots will make humans redundant and basically, useless. A classic theme in Sci-Fi is the human-machine interface, where robots and humans will converge and human brains will be augmented by machines installed in them.
The merging of these two elements sounds scary, but it is also something that has never been done before. And this experimentation brings a new excitement and curiosity to the table. People are eager to know what this will mean for the future. How will it change the way things work? All these are important factors that lead to the support of such a concept.
The technological breakthroughs of the 20th century, and especially the 21st century rise of Artificial Intelligence and the digital revolution that the world is going through, are making the vision of man-machine convergence more and more real and believable. Previously, the industry did not have the resources and the knowledge to make this possible. It could be that 100 years after the birth of Sci-Fi, this vision will become a reality, as entrepreneur and visionary Elon Musk is taking huge steps towards fulfilling it.
CAN ELON MUSK MAKE IT?
Elon Musk has always been a go-getter. That’s a part of his personality and it is what he aims to be. He has an active interest in his projects and invests in these ideas with his complete attention. To bring the ideas to life, he also brings in major monetary investment as well. If you wanted to know why Elon Musk does this, the answer can be found in the following statement.
“I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.”
~ Elon Musk ~
Elon Musk is not an ordinary person. He has big dreams, and his massive abilities and legendary determination are enabling him to make the unbelievable possible. Other than his steely will, he also has the financial ability and access to technical expertise to make major changes happen. He can be the pioneer the world needs. Though he is often heard saying that his biggest goal is to “Occupy Mars” and make human life multi-planetary, the goal of his 2016-founded company Neuralink is not less ambitious.
Its purpose is to create a complete integrated brain-machine interface platform, and while this might sound pretty imaginary and non realistic, you wouldn’t want to bet against Elon Musk. It has a lot to do with neurotechnology and focuses on brain machine implants. With the right person to head the project it is bound to be a success for everyone.
After selling his software company Zip2, which South Africa born Musk had founded in 1995 with his brother Kimbel, for $307M, 27 year-old Musk had the money for pursuing bigger dreams. He simply didn’t want to sell the company, make a profit and spend it. Musk is the person who knows the importance of investment. Not only investment, but the right investments. Therefore, when he received the money for his software company, he didn’t throw it all away on a luxurious life.
With the $22M check he got for the acquisition, he founded the online payment platform X.com, later to be merged with Paypal and sold to Ebay for one and a half Billion dollars. This was a very strategic move. With the value he could have gotten for X.com, a merger with PayPal was a smarter choice and increase the value of the company. Later, the sale of it got him a lot more than the initial $22M he got for his previous company.
After collecting a whooping $165M check for the Paypal deal, led by his successful momentum, Musk had the financial basis for building 2 companies that will fulfill his vision of clean, renewable, and sustainable energy. This world is moving towards dangerous climate change. It is only reasonable that companies shift towards a greener initiative. Musk focuses on exactly that where his emphasis is on sustainable energy. This is exhibited in two of his companies, Tesla; and his grand vision of “Occupy Mars” with launching SpaceX, the first ever private space company.
Tesla can primarily fulfill the clean energy project that is critical in this age. That is essentially the selling point of the company that distinguishes it from the rest of the companies in the industry. SpaceX, however, has a different goal. Nonetheless, it is also a source of a new frontier for the world.
Tesla and SpaceX are 2 mega projects that employ thousands of the world’s top engineers and scientists, demonstrating Musk’s remarkable ability of making his visions become reality. These specialists are recruited for the company so everything that is produced for the purpose is immaculate. They ensure that there is no room for errors. This expertise is part of what has taken Musk’s companies so far. He really has the ability to lure talent.
NEURALINK: THE FINAL MAN-MACHINE FRONTIER?
Neuralink Corporation is an American neurotechnology company that was founded by Elon Musk and others, developing implantable brain–machine interfaces. Since its inception, the company has hired several high-profile neuroscientists from various top universities. The recruitment for Musk’s companies is always special and is an honorable position. The company is well funded, by July 2019 it had received $158 million in funding (of which $100 million was from Musk) and was employing a staff of 90 employees. Despite being and ultra-demanding boss, Musk truly understands the importance of his employees and makes sure that they have everything they need to make this project happen.
During 2019 Neuralink announced that it was working on a “sewing machine-like” device capable of implanting very thin (4 to 6 μm in width) threads into the brain, demonstrated a system that reads information from a lab rat via 1,500 electrodes and started experiments with humans in 2020. Yes, that’s right, Neuralink is re-wiring people’s brains in 2020 already. This might put you under stress as no one wants anything sewn into their brain. But according to what Musk said in a press release, revealing a Neuralink special presentation, we shouldn’t be too worried. He gave his reasons and it does put some of it to rest. However, there are still numerous questions that still need to be answered.
“It’s not going to be suddenly Neuralink will have this neural lace and start taking over people’s brains.” “Ultimately” Musk wants “to achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” And that even in a “benign scenario,” humans would be “left behind.” Therefore, he wants to create a technology that enables to “merge with AI.”
This would mean that he simply aims to make humans competent enough to rival technology. With the most advanced technological advancements, it would be difficult for humans to keep up. This is exactly how he is challenging evolution. He later added that “we are a brain in a vat, and that vat is our skull,” and so the goal is to read neural spikes from that brain.
The company’s intention is that their future technology will be a modular device that sits outside the head and wirelessly receives information from threads embedded in the brain. It sounds like a very convenient solution to many problems. Direct transmission of information is truly a fantasy-like idea, but very possible. However, how will Musk know that this works? It sounds dangerous and not many people would be willing to undergo the process. Lab rats can’t be the only source of research. So, how will Neuralink ensure that the implants work on human brains. It sounds like a risky process.
Without risk, there cannot be any gain in the world. In every case, a sacrifice has to be made to make a bigger vision come true. One of the company’s first goals is to begin implanting their devices in paralyzed people, allowing them to control phones or computers. That is the plan. A solid one. If it works, it would even benefit quite a number of people in their mobility and life.
Though it will take more time, Musk revealed that the technology is already very advanced: “A monkey has been able to control a computer with its brain.” That’s a remarkable result for a short period of time. It is progress that looks extremely promising. With more than $150M in the bank and the top neuroscientists in the world on his side, can anyone question Elon Musk’s success chances?
MAN VS. EVOLUTION: IS THIS THE FINAL ROUND?
Our brains are a few million years old. Evolution has curved and shaped them for such a long time with slow-but-steady increments and adjustments, leading us to where we are today. Many generations today, do not exhibit the same qualities you may have possessed at some point in time. They evolved into better species that is smarter in a different way and younger. They are equipped to deal with many issues with a new perspective.
However, this wasn’t enough. Technology is evolving at a far greater speed than humans. At this rate, humans may have to eventually give in to AI for all matters. Yet, there is hope for all of us.
At some point in the past thousands of years ago, man kind had began searching for performance enhancement and mind-changing substances and instruments. This search can alter evolution for humans and enable them to be better and compete in the future. It can lead to the expansion of human capabilities. This desire for breaking the boundaries of human abilities might be achieved beyond imagination, with Elon Musk spear-heading this ancient human effort.
Musk’s Neuralink suggests that what took evolution several million years to achieve, can be done with a single quantum leap of science, as humanity will have access to a power that is much greater than anything before. And in such case, why should mankind fall behind in this race. They should have the option to be advanced enough to survive in the future. Although the benefits seem surreal and amazing, this concept is at the border of many morals. There are always going to be controversies regarding ethics.
Putting aside the vast variety of ethical and social questions that such power arises, such man-machine convergence will actually put an end to the natural biologic process of our planet, where now man kind, and not nature, will be in charge. Is that a good deal?
For good and bad, Neuralink can be this world’s future. Science fiction would have to surrender to reality with new concepts to emerge. Once, the goals for this is achieved it will be time to move on to something more advanced. Like a black swan that transforms your life, something that we didn’t believe can happen will surprise us all and impact our lives in ways that we could have never imagined before. Musk has a high chance of reaching his goals. Looking at his history with technological achievements, the future might be nearer than you think.
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[…] internal structure of our brains is probably impossible or at least will take us a very long time, even though Elon Musk would argue about that, so the question is what can we do with the fact that our brains are simply not designed for modern […]