Musk claims that he has achieved controlling the mouse with his mind! Obviously the technology is improving, why is there so much controversy?

Editor: Sunny Morning

Controlling a mouse with thoughts is no longer a plot in science fiction, but a new breakthrough in real life. Recently, American entrepreneur Elon Musk revealed that the first human patient implanted with a Neuralink brain chip seems to have fully recovered and can now control a computer mouse with his thoughts , such as clicking the left and right buttons of the mouse and moving the mouse up and down.

Musk said: "You can control your phone or computer just by thinking, and control almost any device through them. The initial users will be those who have lost their limbs. Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a typist or an auctioneer. This is our goal."

As early as the end of 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, which aims to build an invasive brain-computer interface technology, implant a computer chip into the brain through a relatively simple operation, and use electric current to make the computer and brain cells "interact". Its short-term goal is to create a therapeutic device to help neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia and spinal cord injuries.

In fact, the brain is a very complex organ. The importance of brain-computer interface technology lies in that it can establish a direct path between the human or animal brain (or brain cell culture) and external devices. On the one hand, the brain-computer device can convert brain signals into machine-recognizable signals to achieve effective control of the machine; on the other hand, it can receive feedback from the machine and implement external intervention on the brain .

Existing brain-computer interfaces are generally divided into three types: invasive, semi-invasive, and non-invasive, and Neuralink belongs to the invasive route .

In the animal experiment part, Musk showed two experimental results: a macaque named "Pager" had a Neuralink device implanted in his brain. Through brain-computer interaction, it was able to control a computer without a game joystick and play the "MindPong" game (a video game that simulates two people playing table tennis) using only brain thoughts; another monkey named Sake (a primate) typed "can I please have snacks" and then recognized and got its grapes.

The implant that controls Sake's mind operation is Neuralink's latest N1 chip, which is only the size of a quarter coin but contains 1024 high-throughput thread channels that can be used to record and stimulate signals. In addition, Neuralink has improved the N1 charging system and upgraded it, doubling the battery life and even supporting wireless charging.

Brain-computer interface technology is regarded as a cutting-edge technology with great medical potential. In addition to the medical field, brain-computer interface technology may also be applied to various home life areas in the future , such as controlling external home devices by measuring and extracting signals from the central nervous system of the human brain. Human exploration of brain-computer is not limited to the scientific field. In various literary and artistic works, artists have long begun to imagine brain-computer.

The most familiar "brain-computer" film and television work must be "Avatar". Not only have scientists used the induction cabin to synchronize the human brain with the avatar's induction, but also realized that the human consciousness entered the avatar's body. After becoming an avatar, a neural interface wrapped in the "hair" of the Na'vi people's back head grows. The Na'vi can establish contact with the creatures on Pandora through "axon nerves", which is also a way of "brain-computer connection". The digital life in "The Wandering Earth 2" also intuitively shows the relationship between the digital life plan and the brain-computer interface. In "Ready Player One", players use a head-mounted game console to enter a network-shared virtual space to play games, which is also people's main view on the future application of brain-computers in the field of games.

The early success of the first human trial of a brain-computer interface device could mark an important milestone for Neuralink, a company that is bringing the technology from the lab into the real world. Many people have expressed their expectations for the development of brain-computer technology, and there is even a chance that people can achieve mental immortality . Currently, thousands of people are waiting in line to get a brain implant from Musk's brain-computer interface company, Neuralink.

However, brain-computer interface technology is in its early stages of development, and there are still many unknown issues such as data collection technology, security, and ethics. In fact, the controversy surrounding Neuralink has never stopped over the past few years.

The American technology news website CNET believes that it is more difficult to convince people to obtain approval for non-medical products to be implanted in their bodies. There are also serious ethical and social barriers to adopting this technology. Neuralink's implant will replace a piece of skull, which is more serious than a dentist drilling a hole .

Neuralink is also facing scrutiny from relevant authorities due to safety issues in related research. Last November, four U.S. congressmen jointly wrote to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the agency to review Neuralink. In the letter, they said that records of experiments conducted by Neuralink on monkeys showed that brain implants had adverse effects on the health of animals, with symptoms such as paralysis, epileptic seizures and brain swelling, and at least 12 young and healthy monkeys were euthanized after participating in the experiment, while Musk downplayed investors' concerns about the results of his animal experiments. Four U.S. congressmen believe that the brain implants developed by Neuralink have misled investors on safety issues, and Musk may be guilty of securities fraud.

The reason for such caution is that the medical community has always believed that this kind of "invasive brain-computer interface" has great risks, and many issues such as medical ethics have not yet been resolved . In contrast, non-invasive brain-computer interface technology is more mature . It uses external devices such as electroencephalographs to capture electrical signals generated by the brain, without the need for surgical implantation.

Miguel Nicolelis, a professor of neuroscience at Duke University School of Medicine and known as the "father of brain-computer interface", said that non-invasive brain-computer interface has been very effective in neurological rehabilitation and improving the quality of life of patients, and "invasive brain-computer interface should be limited to very serious cases or a small number of patients with complete paralysis ." Critics say that the reason why "Neuralink" company ignores the risks and promotes the more radical technical route of "invasive brain-computer interface" is that it hopes to develop technology that connects human consciousness with the digital virtual world on this basis to seize the market opportunity.

CNN wrote that Musk has taken great pains to lead this potentially life-changing technology, especially for people who are unable to move or communicate, out of the laboratory and into the real world; but there are few details or evidence of the operation, and it is unknown how significant scientific progress the implant represents.

Li Xiaojian, a senior engineer at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the biggest feature of Musk's experiment is that it is completely wirelessly implanted . At present, wired brain-computer interface devices are often used in scientific research experiments or clinical applications, and some wireless brain-computer interfaces also have devices similar to "plugs" that pass through the scalp and connect to external electronic devices.

In Musk's experiment, there was neither a "wire" nor a "plug" for connecting the brain inside and outside . Instead, the electronic device was completely inserted into the brain to replace the cut skull. At the same time, electrodes were implanted in the brain, and the scalp was completely sutured . Li Xiaojian likened it to "putting a cork into the mouth of a bottle", that is, allowing the electronic device to be completely embedded in the skull in a closed state. At present, similar animal experiments have been carried out in China, but have not yet been used in human trials.

When it comes to the future development of fully implantable wireless brain-computer interfaces, Li Xiaojian said that many difficulties still need to be solved at this stage. While ensuring that the implanted device can collect enough brain signals, it is also necessary to ensure the effective service life, biosafety, and signal transmission capabilities of the implanted device, and to avoid chemical leakage and possible infection at the seams of implanted electronic equipment . Musk's experiment is relatively radical, and many scientific and technological issues still need to be explored, and it is unlikely to be completely successful in the short term.

Reference sources: CCTV News, China Youth Network, Global Times, Sina Technology, Xiaoxiang Morning News, Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News, etc.