Reporter: Daniel Reilly
Nueralink, a company founded by Elon Musk, has recently completed its first trial of their very own brain implant on a human being. Nueralink was founded in 2016 with the goal of creating brain chips, that could help alleviate or even solve conditions such as depression and schizophrenia. Before now, they have performed up to 1500 trials on animals, such as mice, rats, pigs, sheep and monkeys. In these tests, it was demonstrated that monkeys were able to control a game on a computer by just thinking about it.
To implant the Nueralink chip, a robot was built to perform the delicate surgery. This involves cutting a hole into the skull and implanting the chip into the brain. This is a scary process that I imagine will turn many away from the idea.
Neuralink founder Musk has made statements online regarding the first human trial. Musk revealed that the first human recipient is progressing well, and has made a full recovery from the surgery. He announced that they have even been able to move a computer mouse simply by thinking.
I think the idea of Nueralink has a lot of potential, as it can solve very serious health conditions in the future. However, outside of medical uses, the water gets muddier. I don’t see it happening. Having a chip in your brain, that like your phone, can become outdated in less then a year doesn’t sound like a good idea.
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