Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup Neuralink has reportedly received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct some form of “human” testing of its surgically implanted brain device.
Congratulations to the Neuralink team! https://t.co/AWZGf33UDr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2023
At this point, it’s unclear what trials Neuralink’s tweet is referring to — the only other information mentioned was that the company isn’t accepting applicants yet.
Neuralink was denied FDA approval for human trials in early 2022 due to several safety concerns that the company was reportedly working to address at the time.
The FDA’s apparent U-turn would indicate that those concerns have been addressed, and the company should then be allowed to conduct limited testing of its surgically implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) device.
In describing the function of BCI, Elon Musk has established it would help with certain health and mobility issues. BCIs are developed to treat many conditions such as epilepsy. They also provide quality services for disabled people, such as the ability to direct the mouse cursor by eye movement or thought.
Musk also said the device will be developed for use by the general public as a universal BCI that allows humans to connect with machines through thought and protect us from being replaced by machines.
Until now, Neuralink could only conduct tests on laboratory animals such as monkeys and pigs. Company recently faced a federal investigation into alleged animal cruelty; However, Neuralink has denied any wrongdoing and the investigation appears to have gone quiet. A separate investigation into alleged shipment of contaminated equipment still continues.
With human testing on the table, Musk’s vision of human-AI hybrids is one step closer. Therefore, it might be time for developers and entrepreneurs to start considering applications and use cases for recreational, surgically implanted BCIs.
Musk has too designed that BCIs would allow people to control smartphones faster with their minds than with their thumbs. Recent research from the University of Texas has shown that artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT can already be trained to interpret brain waves to a limited extent.
Related: Texas scientists have developed a GPT-like artificial intelligence system that reads minds
But perhaps the most interesting potential use case for the cryptocurrency and blockchain communities comes from Microsoft. Several patents filed in 2018 and 2019 describe a system by which a wearable “sensor” could be designed to provide “proof of work” for cryptocurrency rewards and blockchain mining and verification.
According to one of the patents sawdust:
“For example, the brain wave or body heat emitted by the user when the user performs a task provided by the information or service provider, such as viewing an advertisement or using certain Internet services, may be used in the mining process.”
With BCIs like Neuralink describing in its original research paper and paradigm, such as the one described in the Microsoft patent, it should be possible to verify brain waves natively, making it possible to verify “proof of work” by thought alone.
