The first human recipient of a Neuralink brain implant has shared new details on his recovery and experience of living with the experimental assistive tech.
Imagine being a quadriplegic and having someone invent a method by which you can better interact with the outside world again, but refusing it because “Twitter man bad!”
You realize Elon Musk doesn’t actually do the surgery himself, right?
I have a number of concerns about Neuralink specifically. Mainly:
The scientists I’ve seen saying stuff like, “I work in a lab with Nematoads (flatworms), and if we had casualty rates like they’ve had with monkeys, we’d have our license revoked and a full investigation of the lab.”
What’s the long-term look like for these? How often will they need to be replaced? What’s the End of Service going to look like? Will they be like that recent issue with those bionic eyes that the company just stopped supporting and the patients who had them implanted had no other choice but to go back under and get them surgically removed because they were going to just stop working.
The idea of the tech is great, but I don’t trust a for-profit company to care about the people that it’s going into, and a company under Musk especially. Look at all the issues with Teslas that make it seem like there’s no regulatory oversight on those cars. From that billionaire woman who just drowned because the glass Tesla uses is shatterproof when submerged and the doors are electronic (so don’t work without power - like when the car touches water) and the only way to manually open them is to disassemble the door panel and pull an unmarked wire, to how they have the highest accident rates of any car brand. And supposedly, their newer models (since 2021 or so) don’t even have a manual shifter. The car guesses whether you want the car in drive or reverse, and if it guesses wrong, you have to change it in the touchscreen menu.
Musk’s name being attached is reason enough to worry simply because of how often it seems that safety regulations just seem to disappear when he’s involved.
Imagine being a quadriplegic and having someone invent a method by which you can better interact with the outside world again, but refusing it because “Twitter man bad!”
I would have a different opinion if it had been Civ5.
Let’s separate the asshole from the accomplishments please, I don’t think we should deny people potentially life changing technology because it’s associated with some rich dickhead.
Imagine letting Elon Musk drill a hole in your head just so you can make the mouse move with your mind
Imagine being a quadriplegic and having someone invent a method by which you can better interact with the outside world again, but refusing it because “Twitter man bad!”
You realize Elon Musk doesn’t actually do the surgery himself, right?
You realize this tech has existed for like a decade, right?
Shit, I remember research from 20 years ago.
So why is Neuralink a thing, then?
I have a number of concerns about Neuralink specifically. Mainly:
The scientists I’ve seen saying stuff like, “I work in a lab with Nematoads (flatworms), and if we had casualty rates like they’ve had with monkeys, we’d have our license revoked and a full investigation of the lab.”
What’s the long-term look like for these? How often will they need to be replaced? What’s the End of Service going to look like? Will they be like that recent issue with those bionic eyes that the company just stopped supporting and the patients who had them implanted had no other choice but to go back under and get them surgically removed because they were going to just stop working.
The idea of the tech is great, but I don’t trust a for-profit company to care about the people that it’s going into, and a company under Musk especially. Look at all the issues with Teslas that make it seem like there’s no regulatory oversight on those cars. From that billionaire woman who just drowned because the glass Tesla uses is shatterproof when submerged and the doors are electronic (so don’t work without power - like when the car touches water) and the only way to manually open them is to disassemble the door panel and pull an unmarked wire, to how they have the highest accident rates of any car brand. And supposedly, their newer models (since 2021 or so) don’t even have a manual shifter. The car guesses whether you want the car in drive or reverse, and if it guesses wrong, you have to change it in the touchscreen menu.
Musk’s name being attached is reason enough to worry simply because of how often it seems that safety regulations just seem to disappear when he’s involved.
I would have a different opinion if it had been Civ5.
I quit playing after Civ IV, there’s just nothing better than Leonard Nimoy’s voice narrating it.
Heh. Yeah, the older they get the more I actually enjoy them. In fact, I actually picked up Unciv, https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/unciv-is-a-free-open-source-take-on-civilization-5-thats-coming-to-steam, since its FOSS and I can play it for hours on flights.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=121611292
I’ve never played Civ 4, but even though I keep the voice volume nearly inaudible, I still always play with this mod.
Let’s separate the asshole from the accomplishments please, I don’t think we should deny people potentially life changing technology because it’s associated with some rich dickhead.
The company and its accomplishments are pretty sketchy though
Their accomplishment seems pretty good in this case.
It was an incredibly reckless process of development that involved abusing monkeys and skirting regulations
He’s a quadriplegic. It’s not like it was done because he was a Musk fanboy.
On one hand, I get it, on the other, I’d trust just about any other tech company above anything Musk does
Which other tech companies are doing this?
A few actually:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/18/synchron-backed-by-bezos-and-gates-tests-brain-computer-interface.html