This is actually a bloody fantastic question. To be honest, at this stage I'm not entirely sure. I do honestly believe that DBS technology in general is a very powerful tool we should continue to be using to combat various brain diseases and mental illness. However, I'm very cautious to take it beyond that at this stage. I like to look at it as a kind of ladder of risk. Surgery is a risky business no matter what, but sometimes there is no other way to achieve a particular result, and even then, sometimes the risk is just too high to go ahead.
What Neuralink is currently doing - which I do agree with - is trying to develop technology that can be applied to a range of medical needs like paralysis from broken or severed spinal cords for example. What of course will always worry me about any BCI will be obvious considering my history: the infosec aspect.
I think brain implants will become safer over time and will come to form a last-resort treatment option for many different things, but we really do have to be damn careful. If tomorrow, I'm offered a neural implant with a good track record that could treat my ADHD, panic disorder and chronic fatigue? I'd say "hell yeah".
To your point about pharmaceuticals being less risky than surgery, I’d skedaddle back down the ladder of risk where I’m more comfortable. But if DBS/BCI can solve an extreme scenario like helping someone blind see, it feels quite worthy. I hadn’t considered the security vector - thats a little terrifying. But then look at the context of history you’ve laid out here and you can start to see how this could go badly if the target scenarios expand. I hear some AI Academics talking about this and that’s nuts too
Pharmaceuticals are typically less risky than surgery because their effects are usually temporary, and yeah, that's why I'm always in favour of the approach of finding the least risky approach to solving the problem - so long as the problem is indeed solvable with that method. What I would be definitely worried about is the idea of healthy people getting brain implants for reasons other than treating a medical condition of the brain. I am sure there will come a time when this sort of thing is done, but we should focus strictly on the medical aspect for a long time, and get a lot of testing done from every possible angle, before we even consider whether such a thing could be made available to everyone. I mean decades. There is no doubt though that there are many worthy ways for DBS to be used, and BCI (like allowing an advanced ALS patient to speak) as well. BCI I'd be ESPECIALLY careful with. I'm cool with the idea of a pre-programmed DBS implant, possibly with some high-level-encrypted or physical mechanism for applying parameter tweaks and software updates, but, like, no way am I cool with controlling my brain implant with an app on my phone. Like, good god in heaven.
lol yeah, but it’s coming - we can control inputs to our brain like hearing aids and smart glasses and VR with apps and AI today. BCI is for sure the far end of a spectrum but it’s starting to get a little fuzzy
Nicholas, what do you make of this upcoming wave of neural implants (often called BCIs now) like Elon Musk’s Neuralink?
This is actually a bloody fantastic question. To be honest, at this stage I'm not entirely sure. I do honestly believe that DBS technology in general is a very powerful tool we should continue to be using to combat various brain diseases and mental illness. However, I'm very cautious to take it beyond that at this stage. I like to look at it as a kind of ladder of risk. Surgery is a risky business no matter what, but sometimes there is no other way to achieve a particular result, and even then, sometimes the risk is just too high to go ahead.
What Neuralink is currently doing - which I do agree with - is trying to develop technology that can be applied to a range of medical needs like paralysis from broken or severed spinal cords for example. What of course will always worry me about any BCI will be obvious considering my history: the infosec aspect.
I think brain implants will become safer over time and will come to form a last-resort treatment option for many different things, but we really do have to be damn careful. If tomorrow, I'm offered a neural implant with a good track record that could treat my ADHD, panic disorder and chronic fatigue? I'd say "hell yeah".
But only after I pentested it first, of course ;)
To your point about pharmaceuticals being less risky than surgery, I’d skedaddle back down the ladder of risk where I’m more comfortable. But if DBS/BCI can solve an extreme scenario like helping someone blind see, it feels quite worthy. I hadn’t considered the security vector - thats a little terrifying. But then look at the context of history you’ve laid out here and you can start to see how this could go badly if the target scenarios expand. I hear some AI Academics talking about this and that’s nuts too
Pharmaceuticals are typically less risky than surgery because their effects are usually temporary, and yeah, that's why I'm always in favour of the approach of finding the least risky approach to solving the problem - so long as the problem is indeed solvable with that method. What I would be definitely worried about is the idea of healthy people getting brain implants for reasons other than treating a medical condition of the brain. I am sure there will come a time when this sort of thing is done, but we should focus strictly on the medical aspect for a long time, and get a lot of testing done from every possible angle, before we even consider whether such a thing could be made available to everyone. I mean decades. There is no doubt though that there are many worthy ways for DBS to be used, and BCI (like allowing an advanced ALS patient to speak) as well. BCI I'd be ESPECIALLY careful with. I'm cool with the idea of a pre-programmed DBS implant, possibly with some high-level-encrypted or physical mechanism for applying parameter tweaks and software updates, but, like, no way am I cool with controlling my brain implant with an app on my phone. Like, good god in heaven.
lol yeah, but it’s coming - we can control inputs to our brain like hearing aids and smart glasses and VR with apps and AI today. BCI is for sure the far end of a spectrum but it’s starting to get a little fuzzy