Elon Musk Lays Out Plans to Meld Brains and Computers

[Dashinka 25,885]

Is this the genesis of the Borg?

 

By

Rolfe Winkler

Rolfe Winkler

The Wall Street Journal

Updated April 20, 2017 11:26 p.m. ET

24 COMMENTS

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday confirmed plans for his newest company, called Neuralink Corp., revealing he will be the chief executive of a startup that aims to merge computers with brains so humans could one day engage in “consensual telepathy.”

Speaking to writer Tim Urban on the explainer website Wait But Why, Mr. Musk confirmed a Wall Street Journal report last month that Neuralink aims to implant tiny brain electrodes that first would be used to fight brain conditions but later help humanity avoid subjugation at the hands of intelligent machines. 

A Neuralink spokesman said Mr. Musk plans to serve as the chief executive, adding another CEO role to his already busy schedule running electric-car maker Tesla Inc. TSLA -0.99% and rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Mr. Musk couldn’t be reached for comment through the spokesman.

Neuralink’s goals are arguably bolder than Tesla’s plans of mass-market electric vehicles or SpaceX’s ambitions to send humans to Mars. As Mr. Musk describes it, Neuralink wants to develop brain interfaces that would effectively replace human language as we know it.

“There are a bunch of concepts in your head that then your brain has to try to compress into this incredibly low data rate called speech or typing,” Mr. Musk told Mr. Urban in his 36,000-word blog post, which at times reads like a neuroscience textbook. “That’s what language is, your brain has executed a compression algorithm on thought, on concept transfer. 

“If you have two brain interfaces, you could actually do an uncompressed direct conceptual communication with another person,” Mr. Musk said. He explained how it would be easier if people could beam a picture into the heads of others instead of trying to describe it with words.

But first Mr. Musk is looking for more realistic applications of Neuralink’s technology. He said that in about four years Neuralink hopes to market a device that would help treat severe brain injuries, including strokes, cancer lesions, paralysis and memory problems. The strategy is similar to SpaceX and Tesla, where Mr. Musk developed new rocket and electric-car technologies, proved they work, and is now using them to pursue more ambitious projects.

“I think we are about eight to 10 years away from this being usable by people with no disability,” Mr. Musk said in the post. “It is important to note that this depends heavily on regulatory approval timing and how well our devices work on people with disabilities.”

Mr. Musk has spoken out about the dangers of being left behind by the advancements of artificial intelligence. “The pace of progress in this direction matters a lot,” Mr. Musk said in Thursday’s post. “We don’t want to develop digital superintelligence too far before being able to do a merged brain-computer interface.”

There are several challenges to developing the technology—miniaturizing electrodes, making them much more technically sophisticated as well as compatible with and implantable in brain matter. Neuralink wants its interface to operate wirelessly of course, so it will have to find a way to convert brain signals to digital signals, and send huge amounts of data into and out of the brain.

Mr. Musk’s comments come a day after Facebook Inc. announced similar ambitions. “What if you could type directly from your brain?” asked Regina Dugan, who runs Facebook’s secretive hardware division Building 8, during a keynote address at the company’s F8 developer conference Wednesday. Facebook job postings show the company is looking to hire engineers to work on “brain-computer interface” technology.

Neuralink is in hiring mode, too. Its new website is essentially a list of open positions in San Francisco, mostly for a range of engineers. First on the list is a “microfabrication engineer” to lead development of a new class of “biological probes.” 

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-lays-out-plans-to-meld-brains-and-computers-1492738741

 

Edited April 21, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

When does this guy sleep? I want to see the self driving Semis and hyperloop first. I looked into the new solar panels but it looks like it is new construction only

[IAMX 3,055]

Still waiting on consumer EV trucks.. good luck at this any time soon. 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

2 hours ago, IAMX said:

Still waiting on consumer EV trucks.. good luck at this any time soon. 

Toyota starts testing of hydrogen electric this summer

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/04/20/toyota-unveils-hydrogen-powered-semi.html
 

[Dashinka 25,885]

44 minutes ago, ccneat said:

Toyota starts testing of hydrogen electric this summer

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/04/20/toyota-unveils-hydrogen-powered-semi.html
 

Personally I am a bigger fan of fuel cell vehicles than EVs.  Certainly it is a much faster re-fill and done right it can be less of an environmental impact.  Now if they could perfect the HC reformer and be able to fill up with gasoline, diesel, CNG, etc., then crack the H2 onboard they might really have something even for the really big Class 8s.

 

 

[spookyturtle 9,466]

50 minutes ago, ccneat said:

Toyota starts testing of hydrogen electric this summer

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/04/20/toyota-unveils-hydrogen-powered-semi.html
 

Fox News, so it's not true.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Personally I am a bigger fan of fuel cell vehicles than EVs.  Certainly it is a much faster re-fill and done right it can be less of an environmental impact.  Now if they could perfect the HC reformer and be able to fill up with gasoline, diesel, CNG, etc., then crack the H2 onboard they might really have something even for the really big Class 8s.

 

 

Toyota sells a fuel cell vehicles on the left coast 

[bcking 3,157]

Ya I think he needs to focus on some immediate actionable things first. I can do without "Consenual telepathy" for awhile.

 

I'd love to see the hyperloop take off for public transportation. I'd love to see a more efficient method for trucking/shipping. Probably the best idea I've seen would be the tech where roads can charge electric vehicles. Combine that with electric self-driving trucks. They would never have to stop to "refuel" and no driver. 

[X Factor 1,113]

While the stock market in general was down today, TSLA stock was up due to this announcement by Elon 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

10 hours ago, Nature Boy Flair said:

Toyota sells a fuel cell vehicles on the left coast 

Dont worry,  our leftist corruption of the American way is sweeping eastward.  Careful 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

13 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

Fox News, so it's not true.

Faux News?

[Dashinka 25,885]

23 hours ago, X Factor said:

While the stock market in general was down today, TSLA stock was up due to this announcement by Elon 

He seems to be doing anything he can to keep the stock price up.  We will see how the Model 3 launch goes as more of the masses buy an EV, but unless he hits a homerun, it may be hard to sustain as other companies jump on the EV train as small as it is right now.

[Dashinka 25,885]

On 4/21/2017 at 2:53 PM, bcking said:

Ya I think he needs to focus on some immediate actionable things first. I can do without "Consenual telepathy" for awhile.

 

I'd love to see the hyperloop take off for public transportation. I'd love to see a more efficient method for trucking/shipping. Probably the best idea I've seen would be the tech where roads can charge electric vehicles. Combine that with electric self-driving trucks. They would never have to stop to "refuel" and no driver. 

Just think, couples can have intimate relations from opposite side of the room.  Of course, if this is a bar, or restaurant, everyone else may also be able to get in on the action.  This could completely redefine swinging.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[OriZ 3,165]

Meh, Musk doesn't impress me. He could have never made it without government subsidies and without using one company to fund another.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

 

This is from a couple of years ago so the numbers are actually much higher today.

 

Then there's these:

http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/01/investing/elon-musk-cash-crunch-tesla-solarcity/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-faces-cash-squeeze-at-tesla-solarcity-1472687133

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/21/musk-got-what-he-wanted-in-tesla-solarcity-deal--how-about-investors.html

 

Also stock way overvalued. I think it would be valued more appropriately at $150 rather than over $300 like it is now, and I'm being kind.

 

I did however read about a year or so ago already a futurist that was talking about people's brains being on a cloud in the future. Basically the body might be gone but your loved one will still "live" through a cloud. Creepy.

 

This isn't the same one but as close to it as I could find:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/artificial-intelligence-human-brain-to-merge-in-2030s-says-futurist-kurzweil-1.3100124

[spookyturtle 9,466]

47 minutes ago, OriZ said:

 

 

I did however read about a year or so ago already a futurist that was talking about people's brains being on a cloud in the future. Basically the body might be gone but your loved one will still "live" through a cloud. Creepy. 

 

 

 

You read this forum every day. Half the people here already have their brains on a cloud.