The ambitions of Elon Musk and the future of BCI/BMI according to Gerwin Schalk

Neuralink will build a brain computer interface (BCI) or "neural lace" that will eventually "upload thoughts" to the internet but, along the way, deftly heal those with epilepsy, Parkinson's and depression, and restore function to people with stroke and brain injury for good measure. What could Musk's lace possibly look like?

The basic brief for any BCI is to record the electrical activity of brain cells and sometimes squirt back a little voltage to stimulate those same cells. EEG records brain waves from outside the skull, but high fidelity means getting up close, generally by draping an array of 100-200 electrodes over the dura, the brain's hard outer layer, or plunging electrodes directly into the squishy stuff. These deeper brain dives have, already, produced some astounding results.

Deep brain stimulation has helped people with uncontrollable tremor from Parkinson's hold a cup of coffee. In epilepsy, the NeuroPacedevice senses an impending fit and heads it off with a judicious surge of current. A DARPA program culminated in a paralysed woman using her thoughts to control a robotic arm and gently shake hands with an incredulous interviewer. And a February article reports that a woman paralysed with Lou Gehrig's disease used the BrainGate device to type at a record eight words per minute. With her thoughts.

There is, however, a big problem with sticking things in the brain.

"You have an electrode that's hard and artificial, it's made of metal and it's spiky. And on the other side is the brain that's soft, chemical, electrical and pliable. Those two things don't work together all that great," says Schalk, with neuroscientist deadpan.

Brains get traumatised, scar tissue forms around electrodes, the signal degrades, the body rejects the device, and so on.

For more information about BCI/EEG press here.

MMI - Mind-Machine Interfaces

 What are the possible socioeconomic impacts of a mind-machine interface?

Elon Musk described it as a “digital layer above the cortex that could work well and symbiotically with you,” in a way similar to the concept of cyberbrain in Ghost in the Shell (...). Neural lace would act as an interface which would regulate data exchange without permitting unfettered access - to prevent the mind from becoming “house cats” to AI.

Once this technology reaches maturity, our way of life would undergo a revolution:

• Learners can “go to school” by allowing the interface to direct experiences and thoughts into consciousness - instead of reading, listening and interpreting from our sensory feeds.
• A new profession would arise: mind-workers; with low-cost training (patterns fed into our brains), individuals can “lease” their “mind hour” to institutions via the MMI.
• Once programs and systems develop to interface with large number of mind-workers, this would become a new way of employment with only one qualification: a functioning mind.
• Human resources would demand a premium. Instead of technology replacing human labor, they now become enablers of broader employment.
• Feelings and thoughts would become commodities for exchange and purchase, leading to new media and entertainment industries.

For more information about BCI/EEG press here.

Elon Musk launches Neuralink dedicated to BCI

Elon Musk has hinted at the existence of Neuralink a few times over the last six months - “Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence. It's mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output." 

On Twitter, Musk has responded to inquiring fans about his progress on a so-called “neural lace,” which is sci-fi shorthand for a brain-computer interface humans could use to improve themselves.

For more information about BCI/EEG press here.