At the end of January 2024, Elon Musk on his page on the X network (formerly Twitter) told about first implantation. Neuralink chip into the human brain. He claims that the chip, called Telepathy, will allow people to control their phones or computers with their minds. We tell you more about Telepathy itself, its level of innovation, and possible ways of developing the technology.
The boundary between fiction and reality
Science fiction writers have often predicted inventions of the future. For example, in 1865, Jules Verne predicted that humans would discover space in his book «From the Earth to the Moon*], and in «451 degrees Fahrenheit*], Ray Bradbury talked about wireless headphones, which can now be easily bought at any gadget store.
Are we that far from the world described by science fiction? Maybe we have already crossed a line somewhere and are approaching reality like in the Deus Ex or Cyberpunk game universes? We can see elements of the Deus Ex scenario in the daily news — the influence of international corporations is growing intensively, and private military companies are being used in armed conflicts around the world.
What can we say about the influence of artificial intelligence that appears almost at every step. In the Cyberpunk 2077 universe, it plays a big role, and in reality, the AI system allowed the developers of CD Projekt SA to recreate the voice of a deceased actor. So the Cyberpunk world doesn’t seem so fantastic anymore, does it?
Of course, in most works of fiction, the development of technology has not yet reached the level of imagination — we don’t have levitating cars like in Luke Bacon’s «Fifth Element» yet, but we do have virtual reality glasses Apple Vision Pro, like the main character of the movie «Johnny Mononoke».
Implementation of the ideas of transhumanism
The philosophy of transhumanism, which is based on the improvement of human mental and physical abilities, gained rapid development in the last century. For example, the field of prosthetics developed during the world wars, and today artificial limbs resemble the appearance of cyborg characters. No one can be surprised by metal structures that restore broken bones, nor does the use of pacemakers seem innovative. And with such implants, people don’t need to take special drugs like neuropozine in Deus Ex.
However, engineers have not only come up with technological solutions to restore performance or replace the functions of lost limbs. Technologies that are not used for practical reasons, but are intended to gain additional skills, have not gained popularity. An example of an «enhancement» is Manel de Aguas — a Spanish artist who has fins built into his head that allow him to feel things that are not available to other people.
The implants are connected to his brain through circuits that allow him to perceive humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pressure, as well as send sound waves to his brain through bone conduction. The artist himself calls himself a Trans Species Artist, and the fins allow him to express his cyborg identity and are part of his creative image.
If we go back to the history of Neuralink, this startup, which started its activities in 2016, worked on ideas close to medicine. Combining several branches of science, Neuralink sought to treat various brain diseases, but in the process, developments began to focus on improving human capabilities through electronics. Currently, engineers are developing neural chips to eliminate the effects of diseases, expand memory, treat paralysis, blindness, depression, etc., and the company invites people to participate in research on its social media.
Even more distrust appears after reading the results of animal testing of the technology. In the fall of 2023, the United States conducted an investigation into Neuralink’s misleading investors about the safety of the chip. The results of animal tests contained records of paralysis in experimental monkeys, which Elon Musk denied on social media and assured that the company had specifically chosen sick animals to minimize the risk to healthy ones.
Currently, people know about Telepathy implantation only from Musk’s account. The company did not provide any other important information besides inviting people to participate. From a scientific point of view, such studies do not have sufficient justification for confirmation, as this requires publications in specialized publications with a clear indication of the conditions for conducting tests, evaluating the results, and describing the course of the study.
It is known that Telepathy is planned to be implanted in 11 patients and, based on the research, the final parameters of the chip and its design will be determined. However, since Musk often gives out wishful thinking, it is difficult to predict the future of development based on information provided by only one unreliable person.