Before you start to conclude, let us begin this news piece by telling you that the man who is prepping to send people on Mars, the man behind electric cars, the man behind many bright ideas, Elon Musk has another great idea to share with all of us. Musk now wants to get inside your brain and learn everything about it. Why does he want to do that, let’s find out!
As intriguing as it sounds, Elon’s startup named Neuralink wants to implant computer chips inside the human brain and study it. The goal behind developing these implants is that it can treat neural disorders and help people with paralysis to “control” a computer mouse!
Musk claims that these chips might one day be powerful enough to put humankind ahead of the likely future super intelligent computers. He said that such a device could help human intelligence compete with artificial intelligence, which he deems is an “existential threat” to us. How interesting does that sound right!
During a live streaming session on Friday, Elon Musk unveiled a new and ingenious model of the device that was about the size of a coin. It has an advanced chip that goes directly to the human brain with its ultra-thin wires connected to a person’s skull.
Musk also revealed that an earlier version of the device would have been placed behind an ear like a hearing aid but went with a chip implant as it did not require the visible ear device. The device would be implanted in the brain by a surgical robot under local anesthesia.
“We have a healthy and happy pig, looks shy initially and has enormous energy where She’s been implanted for 2 months,” Musk introduced Gertrude, the pig telling his brain that the device was set up.
Not so, he introduced another pig named Dorothy and claimed that he had put a device in its brain and then removed it to demonstrate that the device could also be removed.
But Elon’s main agenda to appear on the live steam was to recruit employees for this neuroscience startup – Neuralink. He proposed coders, engineers, and especially people with experience having created a product to apply for this project. “You don’t need to have brain experience,” he said as that is something that can be learned on the job as well according to him.