Elon Musk is going through a difficult time at the moment. In the midst of all this noise, it's pretty easy to forget that he's constantly coming up with forward-thinking new ideas. These promising efforts, which may go unnoticed, include so-called “neural laces,” the interface that connects the human brain to software.
After discussing the prospects for such a device at a conference in California, USA in June this year, Musk used Twitter to tell the world about his idea. He argues that "neural laces" will help humans achieve symbiosis with machines, in line with a movement known as transhumanism.
The essence of the idea of "neural lace"
Musk's invention will be a computer interface woven into the brain, which will allow the user to access, for example, the Internet, using their own thinking, and even, perhaps, store backups of a person's mind in the event that he dies physically. This device will use a wireless network, and it will allow us to draw, write and communicate solely with the help of thinking.
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This interaction can be passive, using a smartphone, or active, that is, artificial intelligence will directly communicate with our minds, interfering with the thinking pattern of our brain. Musk strongly believes that artificial intelligence will surpass our own in the future, and this can be seen as a way that will allow us to team up with him to go toe-to-toe rather than lag behind.
Who is interested in this idea?
Surprisingly, this idea is not new. She has not only appeared in a number of science fiction novels, but has also been discussed in several real-life organizations.
One of them is the scientific division of the American army. There have already been plans to develop autonomous robotic soldiers capable of empathy, or unmanned aerial vehicles that can disappear in sunlight. But beyond these ideas, this secretive military department has long been interested in using brain implants to repair the neurological damage of soldiers during the war, and the neural interface is one step beyond that.
Development difficulties
Our brains work using electrical signals, and although they are generated biochemically, there is no reason why they cannot be compatible with computer systems. The main difference is that the computer system uses binary signals, while the human brain converts billions of billions of biochemical signals into abstract thoughts and concrete actions every second. You don't have to be Elon Musk to realize that this is a huge technical gap that needs to be bridged.
Modern "primitive" technologies
Nonetheless, thought-controlled prostheses are a reality today, so it is to be expected that eventually humans and computers will be able to communicate effectively. So far, however, these prostheses move with a moderate degree of accuracy based on several tens of thousands of electrical nerve impulses. But the brain contains several times more of them, so at the moment the named prosthetics technology can be called relatively primitive.
Elon Musk's latest tweet says he is making headway on this idea, and maybe we will hear some news on this idea in the next few months. But, of course, there is still a long way to go before neural lace becomes a reality.
Anna Pismenna
