Neuralink will double the bandwidth of its devices with more accurate placement of the threads into the brain. The next generation device will have 3000 channels. The company’s first system, called Telepathy, centers around 64 threads that are inserted directly into the brain. The threads are thinner than a human hair and record neural signals through 1,024 electrodes. They will double the bandwidth with minimal modifications. The next generation device will be about 25-50 times the bandwidth.
They want to go from 10 bits per second to megabits and eventually gigabit is possible.
If someone who does not have the of their arms, then telepathic control of a Teslabot would let someone disabled scratch themselves and feed themselves. It could communicate to any device with a bluetooth connection. It could connect to a powered wheelchair or a smartphone.
Neuralink has placed a device in spinal cord model in animals. This restored motor function in animals.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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I think we need to look at the difference between telepathy, and technology. Telepathy is something I’ve never heard objectively defined. Just what IS that? On the other hand I’m famillar with a concept that goes back decades. It’s called radio-telepathy (understand this is based on technology that tap into the brain, and has nothing to do with anything “psychic”) It’s really quite interesting. We all have a running conversation going on in our heads. Psychologists call this “self talk”, or internal chatter. (One, overt expression of this is talking to your self. Some think this embodies frustration. For others, creativity. For my sake, I hope it’s the latter)
The idea was, can we get what someone thinks, transmitted by radio? Years ago, a great idea. We just had no clue. Today we’re learning to control objects and even artificial limbs using magnetic fields. But turning words in a persons thought into something radio can transmit? That IMO won’t happen until we develop neuromorphic (adaptive living bioelectronics) that can talk, to our radio. Then that radio, can talk to whoever. For anyone interested in nuro-morphology, biological machines and the like, check out “Nature Communications” Most of the articles are open source, meaning free to peek at, or even download. We all have to start somewhere.
Do I think will have (if not already) radio-telepathy? Oh yeah. But that’s nothing to hearing and seeing what’s going on in a room. No bugs, or the Russian “The Thing”, microwave harmonic device required. I’ll mention that later.
“Telepathy” is just a product name. Like Musk called his ground to orbit rocket “Starship”, though it couldn’t reach another star in a billion years.
I have long believed our technology must incorporate living, adaptive biological structures. It’s been very difficult for us to connect our non-living machines which are not adaptive, static, and unable to adapt to the living things their connected to. Connecting say artificial limbs, with non-living metals has long been “not very fluid”. I also question if “AI” in itself could do what a human based, adaptive/reactive patterns analysis could do better? When, say a person has to learn to walk again, after a major injury, they have to learn to do something they learned the first time without thinking about it. I know this to speaking with, and asking questions of several of our injured veterans. Now, they HAVE to think about it. Sh**, they have to learn just to stand up, and THEN walk! Just when you thought you knew how to do that…
They “know” what and how to do it, but can’t translate what they know, to what they want their body to do. Can anyone imagine anything so frustrating? I’ve had major injury and illness in my life. I never had an NDE, (a near death experience) seen God, or dead relatives. But I’ve been told I been clinically dead at least twice. But when I came to? I said “where am I”.? I was sick to my stomach, threw up, and felt like I’ve been runover by a tank. That makes no sense, because if if a tank ran over me, id be squished. I’d not get the chance to feel so sh***. Ok, I look at what I’ve gone through in my life, with what so many of our Veterans have. I have never lost a limb. Never lost a sense. Never been horribly burned. Never could not walk. Thank God.
I don’t mention God very often, but every once in a while, what the hell. I believe we can design organo-metallic based systems that can connect the dots between living systems, and non-living ones. Want to use steel and titanium to our best advantage? Use living systems and biological process to make those and other metals, do what you want them to do, how you want them to do it. That’s just the beginning. Lets make a better world, because we know we can. And hopefully want to?
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Starting to get there. What we really need, really, is the technology to use our brains to control, not the robot’s motions, but the AI’s goals. We need a system where the AI provides raw capacity for thought and reasoning, and WE provide the agency.
We need the AIs to become our frontal lobes’ frontal lobes, essentially. Just as in humans the frontal lobes find extremely complex and effective ways to achieve the hind brain’s goals of food, shelter, mating opportunities, in ways the hind brain can’t understand, but serving the hind brain’s ends, we need the AI to seamlessly find ways to achieve our frontal lobes’ goals.
We need to make AI, ultimately, stand for amplified intelligence, not artificial intelligence.
But this does require a high bandwidth interface to the brain, and the capacity to translate the low level signals into concepts and goals. And we’re starting to get that.
In conjunction with an AR headset like Apple Vision, Neuralink could let a NL recipient teleoperate a Teslabot as though they occupied it’s body. In this case the bot might use the live display of the persons face that the Apple Vision already has. This might be of a Teslabot in the same room letting a patient take care of themselves or in some distant place, letting them effectively teleport someplace else and act in real time through the bot’s body.
That could absolutely happen, but would be unnecessary. It won’t be long, before an AI robot doctor, surpasses a human doctor.
Brian, I like the synergy you suggest between Neuralink and Optimus. The possibilities for the disabled and the elderly are amazing. A huge boon to humanity.
It also uncovers a huge market opportunity. Musk’s companies are amazing in their synergies. Starlink with Tesla for internet-connected automobiles anywhere in the world. Twitter/X data for training AI that will eventrually help train Tesla cars and robots. I could go on and on.
I know Elon is concerned about the safety of AI and its relationship with humans. I hope he also builds in safety bumpers for humans to not hurt other humans using mind-controlled robots. Unfortunately, there are still many problems with people controlling their emotions. One stray thought, and who knows what a human might command a robot to do.
Just watched the update vid, amazing.
Really looking forward to see this tech mature.
While I think most people would prefer a Crispr type approach, and have their body fixed through re-writing a little genetic code, but no matter what happens on that front, this tech will always have a role to play. Even if that role is simply giving 100% normal functioning humans…super human abilities.
It will be wild, once a former blind or paralyzed person, can have normal functionality bestowed on them.