Anyway, telepaths!

The latest advances in Human-Machine interfaces – by Alexandre Del Rey

There are things that are leaving the world of science fiction to enter the world of real things that are available to ordinary citizens. One of them, strange as it may seem, is telepathy. In recent years it is amazing how advances in neuroscience and especially in artificial intelligence with the use of neural networks anddeep learning ( Deep Learning), and sensors and actuators increasingly accurate and cheap,which are the essence of what we call the Internet of Things (IoT) has created fantastic results.

Companies that develop devices capable of reading thought patterns and brainwaves already have practical and real applications, of what we can call telepathy. Emotiv,one of the industry's leading players, develops both hardware and   AI algorithms that can be trained to recognize specific thinking patterns and enable decisions.

I saw very interesting applications being developed in Brazil for drone navigation and SmartTV control (channel change, increase and decrease volume). In a short time, we will be able to control devices and objects only with the force of thought. Basic commands are already a reality and there are many non-intrusive equipment in this sense.

But if there is an ambitious vision company that wants to bring the human-machine interface to another level, this company is called Neuralink. N euralink is a company established by Elon Musk and eight other partners whose main objective is to develop implantable brain-computer interfaces. The company was founded in 2016 with a vision of the future to create efficient ways for humans to exploit the full potential of artificial intelligence algorithms without intermediaries. The connection of algorithms and data directly with our brain is still a distant dream. But a few steps in connecting our thoughts with machines in a one-way way has been taken very successfully.

In April 2021, Neuralink presented the implant made in a monkey where it is possible that the monkey controls the video game of the 70s, Pong, only with the forceof thought. Although research with the same type of result or even with more interesting results has already been presented over the lastfew years by research centers and also by startups, the fact that  Neuralink has an ambitious vision, the support of the visionary Musk and many resources to advance in the area always behind promising expectations.

Photo: Elon Musk's Neuralink shows monkey playing Pong with the mind – Tecnoblog

The mainchallenge in relation to brain implants is the long-term ability to maintain these implants. There is difficulty in creating implants that can remain stable and in good working condition within the human body.

Now, from the point of view of brain comprehension and thought patterns, the advances are significant. The inference ability of Artificial Intelligence algorithms in understanding brain decisions and commands is a field of knowledge caof the mostdominated. Information capture sensors are better and more efficient over the years. So, with new technologies being used to thatend, companies like Neuralink, and visionaries like Elon Musk,lending their genius to give sense of purpose and application to these technologies, soon we will all be telepaths!