By Charlie Carmichael-
Eleuralink brain chips may be capable of curing a common hearing condition.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief is behind the most recognisable electric car firm in the industry -who in 2016 unveiled Neuralink, a startup developing a wireless chip that, in theory, could allow humans to control a computer of sorts with their mind, earlier described as a ‘Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires’.
It unveiled its first working prototype in a pig named Gertrude, and later released footage of a monkey playing Pong with its brain. Musk earlier said he wants to start human trials in 2022, but it’s unclear when they’re set to take place.
The chip may also be capable of letting users stream music directly into their brain, but its true uses are less gimmicky. Musk believes it has the potential to help people with Parkinson’s, brain injuries and other conditions.
Among other things, Musk is also on record claiming this chip could cure tinnitus, the neurological condition that causes ringing in your ears, within five years.
Ever since its establishment in 2016, Neuralink has been recruiting top-class neuroscientists from academia and the broader research community to develop the technology to treat these conditions.
In April 2021, the company released a remarkable proof-of-concept video. It showed a nine-year-old macaque monkey called Pager successfully playing a game of Pong with his mind, by having an implanted Neuralink device connected to a computer running the game.
For example, during a recent interview with TED’s Chris Anderson, Musk said Neuralink would be helping to treat brain and spinal injuries ‘for nearly a decade’, as well as addressing morbid obesity and other health conditions.
In response to this, a Twitter user asked Musk if there was any hope of curing tinnitus, a condition that affects around 15 to 20 percent of people, with experts believing it’ll affect in one in three people in years to come.
Musk replied: “Definitely. Might be less than 5 years away, as current version Neuralinks are semi-generalised neural read/write devices with ~1000 electrodes and tinnitus probably needs .”Future gen Neuralinks will increase electrode count by many orders of magnitude.”
That may seem like a lot of gobbledegook, but it’s actually rather simple: later, more powerful models of Neuralink will hopefully be capable of curing tinnitus.
Elon Musk is thought to have set up a fund which donated to the ACLU.