In the science fiction film “The Terminal Man” produced in 1974, the protagonist Harry Benson (played by George Segal) undergoes a brain implant surgery in hopes of treating his violent epileptic seizures that lead to loss of consciousness. He is a computer scientist specialized in artificial intelligence who predicted that computers would dominate humanity, but there were some unexpected complications.
In the comedy field, who can forget “Al-Limby 8 Giga”? The Egyptian film produced in 2010 revolves around a poor and intellectually limited individual who experiences an accident causing disruption in his brain signals. A doctor helps him by implanting a small chip that becomes a source of exceptional intelligence.
Also, the series “Black Mirror” produced in 2011 revolves around a brain chip that enables anyone to retrieve any memory they experienced.
In the film “Upgrade” released in 2018, the protagonist Logan Marshall becomes paralyzed after a spinal cord injury, agrees to have an electronic chip implanted that not only helps him regain his abilities but significantly enhances them physically and mentally.
Today, it seems that these old new imaginative ideas in movies and dreams are beginning to turn from fiction to reality after the first human patient underwent a brain chip implantation from the chips produced by the emerging company “Neuralink” founded by the billionaire Elon Musk.
The patient who had the chip implanted in his brain has begun to recover well according to statements from Musk published by “Business Insider”. The initial results indicate promising increases in neuronal cells; however, brain chip implantation is just the beginning of a clinical experiment that spans decades surrounded by competitors, financial obstacles, and ethical dilemmas.
“Neuralink” .. Years of Imaginary Claims
Elon Musk is known for his high-level technological companies such as Tesla and SpaceX, but the billionaire also has a range of unusual projects, and “Neuralink” is one of them. It is a neurotechnology company working on developing a device that can be integrated into a person’s brain to record brain activity and potentially stimulate it.
Musk founded Neuralink in 2016, first publicly known in 2017 when the Wall Street Journal published a report about it, and it was not revealed to the public until 2019 when Musk and other executives of the company showcased their technologies in a live presentation.
In July of this year (2019), Musk presented an invention to a group of engineers and curious consumers that seems like a science fiction creation made by his emerging neurotechnology company, Neuralink; a “coin-sized brain chip that can be implanted in a person’s skull to merge biological intelligence with artificial intelligence”.
According to Musk, this chip will be installed in the person’s brain by drilling a hole about 2mm in diameter in the skull, connecting electric probes to the brain, which then launches a series of small wires – each finer than a human hair by about 20 times – into the patient’s brain. He confirmed that “the chip interface is wireless, so there are no wires coming out of your head”, and it is capable of monitoring brain activity and wirelessly transmitting data through the chip to computers, where researchers can study it.
Musk argues that such devices will help humans deal with what is called the dominance of artificial intelligence, where artificial intelligence becomes the dominant form of intelligence on Earth – such as computer programs or robots – effectively on the planet away from the human species.
Musk wants to bridge the gap between humans and machines through Neuralink and its big project, which includes another device, a robot that can automatically implant the chip and works using a stiff needle to penetrate the flexible wires emanating from the Neuralink chip into a person’s brain, just like a sewing machine. Musk claimed that the device could make the process of implanting Neuralink’s electrical electrodes as easy as performing eye surgery using LASIK.
In the next video released by Neuralink, the video displays the mentioned robot in January 2021.
In 2020, Neuralink demonstrated one of its integrated chips in a female pig named “Gertrude”. The presentation showed how the chip accurately predicted the location of Gertrude’s paws as she walked on a treadmill, in addition to recording neural activity as she searched for food. Musk said that the pig had been living with the implanted chip in her skull for two months.
Neuralink took a step further through its animal trials in April 2021 when it showcased Pager, a nine-year-old monkey, playing video games using a gaming controller that was disconnected from the game console, meaning he was controlling the cursor using his brain signals while moving his arm, as
