Business magnate and entrepreneur, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, Space X, and The Boring Company, at many interviews and conferences has expressed his misgivings about artificial intelligence. He has been the man behind Open AI, a not-for-profit artificial intelligence research company that aims to develop artificial general intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to humanity. He has also donated millions to the Future of Life Institute for keeping AI ‘robust and beneficial’.
As a part of his latest endeavor, Musk has registered a medical research company in California called Neuralink. According to a WSJ report Neuralink’s mission is to merge computers with human brains to help people keep up with machines. What is speculated to be an human-AI company is pursuing Musk’s theory about ‘Neural Lace’ technology, which is about implanting tiny brain electrodes that may one day upload and download thoughts and data.
The brain-computer interface company currently has no public presence, however, Musk has hinted at the theory a couple of times. At the World Government Summit in Dubai he stated, “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.”
The WSJ report also mentioned that Neuralink is not going to take up human-computer connectivity first. Instead, the company will explore how brain interfaces react to symptoms of medical conditions such as depressive disorder or epilepsy. The methods would eventually advance the use of electrodes in the brain for treating symptoms of diseases like Parkinsons.