on monday, Elon Musk Announced on X: A patient has successfully received a brain transplant from neurotech startup Neuralink. He added that the patient is “recovering well” and has shown “promising” initial results.
Musk later followed up on the news with Another post on X Announcing that Neuralink's first product will be called 'Telepathy' which will allow users to control their devices 'just by thinking'.
He added: “Imagine if Stephen Hawking was able to communicate faster than a speed writer or an auctioneer.” “That's the goal.”
But there's just one problem: We only have Musk's word to take seriously. At press time, Neuralink has not yet issued an official statement, and the company's website makes no mention of the process. Given Musk's long and sordid history Over-promising and under-deliveringThere's little reason to trust what he has to say.
Neuralink did not respond when contacted for comment.
If only he He is It is true that the company has succeeded in implanting a brain chip in a human patient, but this would actually be another example of Musk's tendency to underestimate performance: the company announced that it will place brain chips in humans “within six months” until 2022. .
This does not mean that the company is unlikely to have implemented the process successfully. Neuralink has been working on its BCI for years. This includes technology such as N1 Link, the company's BCI wireless chip; and R1, a seven-foot-tall robot that the company said will be able to implant N1 into the human brain.
However, it's worth taking this announcement with a grain of salt, especially given Musk's tendency to overstate matters related to X, just to try. Walk again later.
If this announcement is true, Musk's claim would mark a major milestone for the company, which has been besieged by delays and controversy since its inception. While Musk initially announced in 2019 that Neuralink would begin human trials of its brain chips in 2020, those trials have been repeatedly delayed due to FDA approvals.
In August 2022, Reuters reported The billionaire was upset that Neuralink had been exposed to human testing by several other neurotech competitors such as Synchron, which has successfully implanted brain-computer interfaces into humans using a much less invasive procedure. Meanwhile, Neuralink was steadily bleeding executives and leadership — along with one of its original founders Departure in July 2022.
In the backdrop of all this, Neuralink came under fire after an animal rights group complained to the USDA that the company tortured and mutilated 23 monkeys in a lab while testing its brain chips.
So, until we hear from the company itself and see the results through a peer-reviewed research paper, it's best to be cautiously skeptical. While technology can undoubtedly help improve the lives of people with mental and physical disabilities, there is no point in creating hype and excitement where neither exists. In fact, it could be dangerous because it could harm public perception of these technologies.
Moreover, if we've learned anything from the hyped-up tech and science announcements of the past year, it's that it's better to err on the side of caution than to let the hype sway you.
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