The richest person in the world, Elon Musk, introduced the ‘brain chip’ developed by the company called Neuralink, which he owned in August 2020. The company that developed brain-computer interfaces that could be implanted in the human brain, v. With the 09 device, it hopes to pioneer ‘groundbreaking’ developments for the future of humanity and to provide solutions to many medical issues.
There have been new developments recently about the device, which was stated to be successful on a monkey at the beginning of 2021. In the news we conveyed to you, it was stated that the company had opened a job posting for experts who will conduct human trials, and it was stated that clinical trials could begin soon. However, many scientists began to express their concerns about this plan of Musk.
‘There is not enough explanation about technology’
According to reports, some scientists are worried about Musk’s goals of implanting a chip in the human brain. Experts think that such technologies may pose significant risks for the participants who will participate in the experiments. At the University of Wiconsin-Madison, Dr. Karola Kreitmair is one of those people.
In his statements about the chip, Kreitmeir said, “I don’t think there is enough public discourse about the effects that may occur as a result of this kind of technology becoming available. I’m a little skeptical about these kinds of goals by for-profit companies. I hope they really want to help people.”
‘Exploitable for commercial gains’
The aim of Neuralink is to provide humanity with a technology that can overcome neurological diseases such as stroke. However, Elon Musk hopes that this technology can reach a much more advanced level and create a “common life” between humans and artificial intelligence in order not to be left behind by machines.
Experts also report that they have questions about these goals of Neuralink. From SUNY Upstate University in New York, Dr. Syd Johnson also said about these goals, “If it is really desired to be developed for people with paralysis, it should not be forgotten that the market is very small and the prices are expensive. “Such niche products run the risk of being exploited and used for commercial gain.”
Ethical concerns may arise
Other scientists who made statements to The Daily Beast website are cautiously hopeful about the project; however, he stated that there are issues that Musk and the company have not yet addressed. Stating that a clinical trial participant may want to change his mind and leave, the experts emphasized the possibility that the technology required for situations that go wrong is not available.
In addition, experts questioned what would happen if the Neuralink company went bankrupt while the chips were in people’s brains. What would happen to customer data if the company was sold to another organization was also among the issues that experts were worried about. In addition, how long these implantable devices can stay in the brain and whether the necessary updates can be provided to all people were among the comments.
Finally, ethical concerns that may arise if the technology reaches the desired level were also highlighted. Dr. Kreitmair said that the chip has the potential to work in medicine; However, he stated that in the future, using this device, some malicious people could make scary moves such as accessing personal data using the device. Other scientists also noted that this technology could be used by places such as governments and corporations, and could restrict our brain, which has been described as the ‘last bastion of freedom’.
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