Neuralink may start testing on humans. The technology in which a chip is placed near the brain that then reads brain waves and converts them into actions has been fully tested on animals (including pigs and monkeys), but is now ready for human testing. Neuralink owner Elon Musk has been waiting for that for a year, but now it’s finally here.
neural link
We still think the billionaire has long since had it implanted in his own brain, but now it’s official: Neuralink can be tested on humans. A start of an era in which we will see technology play an even greater role. Neuralink is basically intended for people with paralysis, in order to still be able to control their limbs, but Elon Musk has hinted several times that it can of course do more.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finally given permission for Neuralink to begin their human testing after a long trial. It previously tested on monkeys, which could play the game Pong with their brains, without having to use the joysticks with their hands. They have learned to play with their hands, but eventually the brain waves already indicate what they would like to do with their hands to control the block in Pong and thanks to Neuralink that is exactly what happened.
Testing on humans
Implanting a Neuralink chip is not a huge operation: it can be done in fifteen minutes. It is still unknown who will be the first official lucky person: would it be someone with paralysis or not, so for the first time.
Neuralink means being able to control a computer with the brain, no hands needed anymore. Something that according to Musk is even necessary in the future if we want to keep up with the development of AI. While all of that is probably a distant future, this FDA decision feels like one that could change the world forever. And Elon Musk is there, just like with the space developments, as a kind of Willy Wonka. Ready for the innovation, but we also know that Wonka is not afraid of a dead person here and there (the lab animals in this case, which were frequently euthanized).
