Our brains are the most complex and fascinating organs in our body. Come to think of it, inside our brains, billions of neurons communicate with each other, making trillions of connections that are referred to as synapses, therefore our brains are just like electronic devices that send signals to all the body parts through the nervous system.

Hence, we can move a hand or any other body part through these signals. What Scientists did is they took this basic idea and made chips (neural links) that could put electrodes in our brain and this enabled them to record our brain signals and also send and receive information to the brain basically that’s what neural link is all about.

Is Neural Link Safe?

The neural link is not put directly in the brain but in a small hole about 25 mm in diameter on the skull which makes it completely invisible from the top. During one of the live demo events done by neurotechnology, Elon Musk said:

‘It’s kind of like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires,’ ‘I could have a Neuralink right now, and you wouldn’t even know. Maybe I do’

Neurosurgeons that perform these surgeries have to be extremely careful with the brain, which is why there is a whole dedicated Neurosurgical Robot that is capable of inserting the (link) or the electrodes accurately within the shortest time possible.

There have been successful attempts already where they put neural link microchips into (Paige) a 9-year-old monkey, and he was able to play pong with his mind.

Another attempt was with a pig (Gertrude) where they were able to read signals. from its limbs and simulate the data in real-time.

Let’s say Neural link technology becomes a thing then we will be able to keep pace with the fast-growing technology of Artificial technology where you will even be able to control electronic devices using your mind only.

People with brain-related conditions e.g. blindness will now be able to restore sight. (How?) So the neural link will be connected to your phone which will also be connected to a camera that will record real-time scenes and the feed, will be sent to the phone which will also convert the information to machine-readable from

Information sent to the neural chip will now be interpreted by the electrodes implanted directly in the visual cortex of our brain. This will allow people with blindness. from birth to see and perceive the world as we do.

Also, if the neural link can restore sight, it can potentially restore body paralysis. (Still wondering how?) So basically the neural link can read the brain motor signals through the electrodes in the motor cortex of our brain and the information is then decoded in real-time, so the idea here is that people with full body paralysis condition can be able to control prosthetic limbs or other devices simply by thinking about it. If these chips can be used to restore sight to the blind, what about people who already can see?

(Come to think of it) the same technology can be used to enhance vision. When I say “enhance” I mean you might even be able to zoom far objects using your eyes or maybe watch a movie inside your head without using any gadgets. Maybe even at some point, you may be able to talk with people using the mind just as the mobile phone does. The difference here is that there will be no mobile phones. Or maybe it might be possible to have another temporary storage to keep pictures and even videos just inside our minds.

If you can be able to control any electronic device does it also mean that even electric cars also count? Yes, they do by replicating the motions in your brain you can be able to drive electric cars using your mind and since Elon Musk owns the best electric car-producing company (TESLA) I don’t see why this is not going to become a thing.

Elon Musk also said that neural links can be used to collect data from a person’s mind and when the person dies the same data can be uploaded into another person’s body and the same person can be able to live again because scientifically speaking

“A person is only a collection of his memories and maybe experiences since the body you were born with it’s not the same body you have now body cells grow and die actually according to research you lose about 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every minute. But one thing you will agree with me is that your memories are the same since the day you were born, of course excluding people with memory conditions. The conclusion here is that a person is only a collection of memories. So if these memories were to be digitally uploaded to another body then it will be correct to say you have died and resurrected in another body."

Read more about mind uploading in The singularity is near.

This is the same theory that Musk has, the end capabilities of what we can do with the neural link are infinite as the research is still ongoing on the best possible ways to use the neural link. With all the excitement around the neural link with people asking when it will be ready to be used by regular people, we have to look at the downside effects of neural links.

Cons

An investigation was held which showed that over 1500 animals have been killed in the testing of this technology because for one obvious example, these animals have to undergo postmortem, and after all, it’s all about testing, and anything goes. Still, no humans have been tested with this technology since a lot of research has to be done to ensure it’s 100% efficient to be used by humans.

We are aware that our bodies have a natural tendency to reject foreign objects, such as artificial implants, which can result in complications and negative outcomes. For instance, individuals have reported suffering after receiving certain types of body implants. Furthermore, the neural link implant is placed near the brain within the skull, and if not done correctly, there is a potential for severe infections, diseases, and even fatal consequences, such as cancer or death.

If let’s say neural link becomes the next-gen technology. One problem users will be facing is hacking Imagine somebody hacking your brain that means they can have full body control of a person’s thoughts motions feelings everything that describes you. who even wants this?

But this is one of the risks the next generation will have to take, or maybe computer viruses remember this is possible since we said this technology will allow users to connect via Bluetooth or via Wi-Fi to all electronic devices this means a hacker can transmit or send a virus via an infected computer connected to your brain.

Let’s say you are a person like me who hates ads when browsing or watching a video online. with a neural link connected to your brain, it can be used to know what you like, and this data can be used to display ads to your liking. It’s not shocking that you will see popup ads in your brain sometimes. Still, (asking how?) Maybe at some point, the neural link will have a subscription where you have to pay to use it, since in the world we are living nothing is free, and I don’t see this changing for a while.

Why not just use our natural brain?

If let’s say everybody uses this technology to enhance their brain functionality maybe doing work faster and solving world problems it will mean an increase in productivity and increase in job opportunities. But what about people who don’t have these chips in their head or maybe can’t afford it? That’ll leave that question for you to answer.

But to keep pace with othe_r artificial intelligence_ companies and organizations people will be forced to use these brain chips whether they want it or not. I know it sounds like movies or sci-fi but no neural link is coming, and it’s coming to stay.

As The technology is still in its early stages, and much more research and development is needed before it can become a viable option for people to use it. However, the potential benefits of this technology are enormous, and it could someday transform the lives of millions of people around the world.