Elon Musk is in the news all the time these days. Here’s more about his AI insert into human brains, purported to help us survive AI. Yes, that’s a contradiction, but kind of true of surviving tech…we need more of it to do so…which is where the phrase “infinite loop” came from. Just kidding.
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Tesla-and-SpaceX-CEO-Elon-Musk’s-next-company-wants-to-put-tiny-electrodes-in-our-brains-called-neural-lace-so-we-can-survive-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence-—-Quartz.pdf”]Researchers have compared today’s interfaces—screens, keyboards, and even crude direct brain implants—as dial-up modems compared to the lightning-fast connections our brains are capable of managing if we didn’t need to route all the data through our senses.
Musk is pursuing this high-bandwidth connection through a technology called “neural lace.” The term was coined by science-fiction novelist Iain M. Banks, who wrote a series about members of a galactic “Culture” civilization who had a “neural lace” allowing them to translate thoughts directly into computer commands, alter neurochemistry, and even restore consciousness after death. Musk’s version appears to be about seeking enhanced cognitive abilities by adding vast networks of tiny electrodes to the brain. Over time, these fuse with brain cells in a presumably superior mesh of human and artificial capabilities.