Elon Musk’s Neuralink Seeks Volunteers. Is the Potential Help Worth It?

This story originally appeared on Readwrite.com

Elon Musk’s Neuralink seeks volunteers for enhanced Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). He envisions a future with increased bandwidth between humans and machines, and Neuralink, his brain-computer interface venture, is taking a significant stride toward achieving that objective.

The company now seeks its inaugural volunteers to obtain an implant with over double the electrodes compared to earlier versions, permitting more data collection from a more significant number of nerve cells. Musk aims to boost the “bandwidth” between people, humans, and machines by at least 1,000 times.

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As a result, this enhanced connectivity could revolutionize industries like healthcare, communication technology, and even personal computing by enabling unprecedented access to human neural functions. Potential health benefits range from offering treatment options for neurological disorders to further advancing artificial intelligence, thus creating a new era of symbiotic human-machine collaborations.

Regulatory challenges and ethical concerns in first-in-human trials

Regulators must now evaluate the acceptable level of uncertainty as research proceeds to first-in-human trials and establish the proper participant selection method. It is crucial for regulators to maintain a balance between the potential benefits of novel treatments and ensuring the safety of trial participants. This involves a collaborative approach, engaging with researchers, ethicists, and the patients themselves, to develop a comprehensive understanding of risks and to implement informed, ethical decision-making processes.

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This process seems like a no-brainer (pun intended). Double the electrodes? And what type of person comes forward for this type of study? Neuralink, as the brain-computer interface (BCI), is already implanted in Elon Musk’s brain. The company Neuralink states, “We are developing a system of ultrathin electrodes that thread into the brain to read from or stimulate neurons.” Neuralink also states “The first generation of Neuralink’s technology consists of a chip containing neuron-size polymer threads that a surgical robot would stitch into the brain to record electrical signals from neurons and convey them to a wireless device worn behind the ear.”

The proposed technological innovation officially received approval from the FDA to begin the trials.

Read more: Elon Musk’s Neuralink Is Now Officially Cleared to Start Brain Chip Implants — Here’s Who Qualifies For the Trial