Elon Musk responds to the prototype of a visionary entrepreneur who rebels against the limits of the possible. His unwavering determination to carry out cutting-edge projects does not stop with the autonomous driving of his company Tesla’s vehicles, but goes much further. He embraces experiences as complex as the conquest of space with SpaceX rockets and the implantation of small electronic devices in human brains through his other companies, Neuralink.
Last week, Elon Musk announced that Neuralink had successfully carried out the first brain implant in a human. In his message spread through social networks, the multifaceted businessman said that the patient is fine. He added that Telepathy, the chip that has been implanted in him, will allow him to “control the phone or the computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.”
Although Musk himself has said that the first users will be people who have lost the functionality of their limbs, the experiment opens up the possibility that one day all users will be mentally connected to all types of technologies. And that is where the doubt arises as to whether in the future human beings will be able to carry out tasks as complex as driving a car with their minds.
Javier Díaz, professor of Biomedical Instrumentation at Tecnum, the School of Engineering at the University of Navarra, highlights the application of the chip in people with functional disabilities, since “this is the first purpose of Neuralink.” “Telepathy will allow people who are quadriplegic or have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to have more abilities to manage their daily lives and this is a very important milestone.”
However, according to Díaz, the possibility that the mental activity of people with an implanted brain chip interact directly with a car seems to be still far from materializing. “Through brain signals, we are able to detect certain desires or interests of the person we monitor. We are able to identify whether you want to turn right or left, move forward or brake. However, the jump to driving a car seems unattainable at this moment,” says Díaz.
The university professor emphasizes that before considering the feasibility of connecting the mind to a car, it is necessary to clearly define what that connection entails. In his current assessment, he considers this integration to be impractical for now.
Before a person with an implanted brain chip can control a vehicle through their thoughts, the Tecnum professor suggests that it will be the car itself that will acquire the capacity for self-management. Instead of relying exclusively on brain-machine interfaces, the focus is on the progressive development of in-vehicle technology. “The cameras, GPS, position sensors and the interconnection with other vehicles form a complex technological network that brings us closer every day to the reality of autonomous vehicles,” he says.
Uncertainties arise around Telepathy in relation to the possibility that this chip, implanted in a patient with neurological disabilities, could cause personality changes. Javier Díaz maintains that “there are more exhaustively studied devices that are already being used, such as deep brain stimulators or those designed to manage morbid obesity or depression, which effectively affect the person’s behavior.”
“We could think above all about those specific to depression. They are applied to turn off, turn on, use or activate certain parts of the brain related to what is known. The same thing happens with stimulators to control morbid obesity that are modifying the patient’s behavior,” adds the professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Navarra.
Furthermore, the possible ethical implications related to the implantation of a brain chip in humans cannot be overlooked. “In this case, you have to look more at the developers than at the person who has the chip. We must not forget that in the case of Neuralink it acts on vulnerable people, since it does so on quadriplegic patients and people affected by ALS, who are willing to do what an expert says as long as it will help them. It is also true that the user has more possibilities for carrying a chip than other people, but I think it is something that will be very limited by the rest of society,” concludes Díaz.
