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viernes, 2 de diciembre de 2022

Brain-computer interface (BMI) is not new. Full highlights from Elon Musk's Neuralink presentation on Nov. 30, 2022.


Brain-computer interface (BMI) is not new.  Full highlights from Elon Musk's Neuralink presentation on Nov. 30, 2022.  Do you have high hopes for Neuralink?  Very big hopes, more than Mark's Metaverse.  Elon Musk’s Neuralink Event: Everything Revealed in 10 Minutes, https://youtu.be/xv2_F4FwFiM.  
 
Researchers at Neuralink reveal a series of demos showing the progress in the company's brain-computer interface technologies. Brain-computer interface is not new and it will take time to upgrade itself.  
 
The use of technological trends throughout the 21st century has increased and, above all, has revolutionized various sectors around the world, allowing better results to be achieved and solving problems that are complex for living beings through conventional methods. 
 
However, Neuralink technology is the new technological trend that promotes the implementation of devices and sensors so that they are connected and interact with the brain. Knowing that the brain is the main organ within our organism and the most complex since it allows various functions to be carried out within the human body, although the human being deteriorates over time and suffers neurodegenerative problems that are becoming noticeable. such as Alzheimer's since this is a problem that involves loss of information and memory. 
 
The purpose of Neuralink technology is to achieve a great impact not only on the human organism but also on the health sector, since it promotes the use of a sensor that will be designed with a very flexible material that will not damage the brain, allowing our organisms to not suffer any kind of inconvenience and above all help the health sector since without a doubt it is of great benefit to this sector allowing to optimize processes that at the same time have not been able to solve with respect to neurodegenerative inconveniences.

Scientists have cited technical challenges for Neuralink. In 2017, a journalist at IEEE Spectrum Magazine asked for comments from five researchers that had been working on BCI implants, including Thomas Oxley that invented the Stentrode. At a live demonstration in August 2020, Musk described their device as "a Fitbit in your skull". Several neuroscientists and publications criticized these claims. MIT Technology Review accused the demonstration of having the main objective to "stir excitement", adding that "Neuralink has provided no evidence that it can (or has even tried to) treat depression, insomnia, or a dozen other diseases that Musk mentioned in a slide". Andrew Jackson, professor of neural interfaces at Newcastle University, also commented on the presentation to the BBC. To Musk's statement that he found Neuralink's advancements to be "profound", Jackson responded, "I don't think there was anything revolutionary in the presentation."

Thiago Arzua of the Medical College of Wisconsin argued that what Neuralink does is not novel and that ideas for a brain-machine interface (BMI) are at least 50 years old. He cited the successful control of a robotic prosthetic arm by a man that gave him haptic feedback, which he used in 2016 to give President Obama a fist bump. Arzua said that the 2020 Neuralink presentation "showed little more than a flashy new design for a BMI with more electrodes".

Neuralink tests its devices by surgically implanting them in the brains of live monkeys, pigs, and other animals. Neuralink's methods have been criticized by groups such as PETA.

From 2017 to 2020, Neuralink's experiments on monkeys were conducted in partnership with UC Davis. At the end of their partnership, UC Davis transferred seven monkeys to Neuralink. In 2022, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) alleged that Neuralink and UC Davis had mistreated several monkeys, subjecting them to psychological distress, extreme suffering, and chronic infections due to surgeries. Experiments conducted by Neuralink and UC Davis have involved at least 23 monkeys, and the PCRM believes that 15 of those monkeys died or were euthanized as a result of the experiments. Furthermore, the PCRM alleged that UC Davis withheld photographic and video evidence of the mistreatment.

In February 2022, Neuralink said that monkeys died during testing, but they also said no animal abuse occurred.

Musk previously stated that Neuralink implants would be introduced by injecting them through the jugular vein, and not by opening the cranium (which Neuralink currently requires).

A January 2022 article in Fortune highlighted criticism of Neuralink's corporate culture from anonymous former employees. They described a "culture of blame and fear" and one with vacillating priorities. Additionally, Musk allegedly undermined management by encouraging junior employees "to email issues and complaints to him directly."   
 
What do you think of the highlights from Elon Musk's Neuralink presentation on Nov. 30, 2022? Will it be another initiative like the metaverse or going to Mars with little future or will it be a great solution to humanity? It remains to be seen and we will all be witnesses.
 
San Jose Costa Rica, Friday, December the 2nd, 2022, rafaelvilagut@gmail.com.

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