(OPINION) Elon Musk has claimed that he will cure a common and debilitating disease using computer chips hooked to people’s BRAINS. In a recent tweet, the billionaire said that his company Neuralink will fix tinnitus – a condition that causes ringing in the ears – by 2027.
Musk set up Neuralink in 2016 with the goal of creating “brain-machine interfaces” that connect humans and computers. Early trials have implanted coin-sized devices into the heads of monkeys, allowing them to play video games using only their minds. The company says the technology will one day help people with paralysis and other neurological conditions.
On April 24, Musk tweeted that Nueralink will “definitely” cure tinnitus, which affects 50million people in the U.S. It’s estimated that one in three people worldwide will experience tinnitus at some point in their lifetimes. A cure “might be less than five years away”, Musk said, due to the rapidly growing complexity of Neuralink’s chips.
The Tesla chief has previously claimed that brain implants could one-day cure diseases ranging from obesity to insomnia. And while it may sound farfetched, the underlying science is credible. Scientists are more skeptical of the timeline, but say that the underlying science is not controversial.
Writing in The Conversation, David Tuffley, senior lecturer in applied ethics & cyberSecurity, Griffith University said: ‘Neural implants have been helping people since the early 1960s when the first cochlear implant was placed in a person with impaired hearing. There has been much progress in the 60 years since then.
Neuroscientists are broadly optimistic the device has the potential to treat tinnitus. It may also be useful in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, repairing brain injuries, and treating conditions such as autism or degenerative diseases of the nervous system using deep brain stimulation.
Paul Nuyujukian, director of the Brain Interfacing Laboratory at Stanford University, said, “We are on the cusp of a complete paradigm shift. This type of technology has the potential to transform our treatments.
“Not just for stroke, paralysis, and motor degenerative disease, but also for pretty much every other type of brain disease.’ Space X billionaire Musk recently showed off a video demonstrating how Neuralink technology allowed a monkey to play video games using its mind.
