Elon Musk predicted a future the place a human with a chip-enhanced mind can defeat knowledgeable video-game participant is just not far off.
In an episode of Lex Fridman’s podcast that was posted on Friday, Musk pointed to his Neuralink start-up, which implanted a chip into somebody’s mind earlier this 12 months.
“We really feel fairly assured that within the subsequent 12 months or two, somebody with a Neuralink implant would have the ability to outperform a professional gamer as a result of the response time could be quicker,” he mentioned.
In March, Neuralink mentioned the primary human to have a chip implanted in his mind is a quadriplegic, who gained the flexibility to play video video games utilizing his thoughts.
Trying even additional into the longer term, Musk mentioned Friday that the long-term aim of Neuralink is to enhance AI-human symbiosis by growing an individual’s capability to speak at excessive quantity.
With out such an enhancement, AI will get “bored” ready for folks to speak at a couple of bits per second whereas AI can do it at terabits per second, he defined, including “It’s like speaking to a tree.”
However he confused that Neuralink’s first order of enterprise is to deal with broken neurons within the spinal wire, neck or mind, like the corporate’s first sufferers.
“We’re simply beginning with the fundamentals right here, the easy stuff, comparatively talking is fixing neuron harm,” Musk mentioned.
However as soon as the dangers of getting Neuralink mind implants are confirmed to be low, after hundreds of individuals have been utilizing them for years, then maybe the corporate may goal for “augmentation” of individuals with out neurological points, he added.
Actually, Neuralink already plans to reinforce folks with neuron harm, giving them a “communication knowledge fee” that exceeds what people usually have.
“Whereas we’re in there, why not? Let’s give folks superpowers,” Musk mentioned.
Equally, Neuralink may enhance human imaginative and prescient, finally constructing on its Blindsight product for restoring sight. At first, it will present low-resolution photos, however over time the decision may very well be larger than what people have right this moment, with the product even enabling imaginative and prescient in several elements of the spectrum like ultraviolet or infrared, he defined.
In February, Musk claimed progress on Neuralink’s first affected person and final month mentioned his start-up had plans to implant a chip in a second affected person. On Friday, he advised Fridman the second implant has occurred and was “to date so good.”
Representatives for Neuralink didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Roughly the dimensions of 1 / 4, Neuralink’s N1 brain-computer interface is designed to each report and transmit neural exercise with the assistance of over 1,000 electrodes distributed throughout dozens of various filaments, every thinner than a human hair.
