Elon Musk's Neuralink - Can It Make Humans Compete with AI?

Elon Musk is renowned for his innovative mind and unceasing desire to improve multiple facets of life such as transportations, space exploration, cities, and now, the human brain.

The famed CEO and inventor announced the Neuralink brain microchip that could give humans equal footing with AI technology.

Neuralink, How to Compete with AI

Elon Musk is well known for his multiple ventures. Recently the tech genius announced plans to construct a Starbase--a new town in Southern Texas that will function as a miniature Cape Canaveral.

There's no doubting the intelligence and curiosity of Musk's mind. Garry Kitchen, a pioneer gamer and engineer, tells The Post.

While Musk's future "Starbase" and exploding rockets gained attention throughout the week, microchipped pigs named Dorothy, Gertrude, Celo, and Barbara were reportedly walking on treadmills in a video at the brain microchip implant start-up in San Francisco.

The pigs and at least one monkey were test pilots in the effect of the Neuralink that Musk's team is developing using high-bandwidth interfaces in hopes of connecting human brains with a computer.

The Science of Neuralink

Composed of a team of experts, Neuralink was first formed in 2016 as one of the CEO's secretive offshoots. Its goal is to treat traumatic brain injuries and giving humans a competitive edge on rising AI technology.

The team prides itself on creating future brain interfaces and devices that will help people struggling with paralysis and inventing new technologies to expand human abilities, community, and other facets of life.

There are 86 billion neurons in the human brain constantly firing to send and receive information. There and many different types of neurons each help bodily function processes.

Neurons connect to each other and transmit information via axon-dendrites called synapses. These, in turn, release neurotransmitters where small molecules bind to receptors opening channels that cause the flow of currents across neurons.

By recording electrical brain signals, Neuralink stimulates the brain by firing electric currents that activate muscles and nerves. The small currently delivered through electrodes via brain microchipping changes the electric field of nearby neurons that fire one or more action potentials.

When the right temporal sequences are stimulated across many electrodes, it is possible to re-create activity patterns that promote the desired sensation and reduce pathological patterns of activity such as neurological disorders.

The startup's initial goal is to aid paralysis recovery and help patients regain independence through the control of mobile devices and computers. Neuralink's devices are specially designed to give people the complex ability to communicate more easily via speech synthesis or text, follow curiosity by accessing the web, or express creativity via apps.

Musk's Neuralink is targeting the first application on people with spinal cord injury. But stresses that there are many future applications for the technology. Although clinical trials are yet to go underway, the team notes that safety is at the core of the design process. Link technical innovations include improving safety for future surgical procedures and more.

Check out more news and information on Neuralink on Science Times.