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Smith noted that the Neuralink is attached to his motor cortex, meaning it can only read his intended movements — not his thoughts and words. Initially, he tried moving his hands to move the cursor, but the system did not respond well. After further study, the engineers working on his implant discovered that moving his tongue is the best way to move the cursor. Bradford said that he doesn’t think about his tongue when moving the cursor, much like how you don’t think about moving your arm or wrist when operating a mouse. His subconscious quickly took over the operation, and he now controls a computer seamlessly through his BCI.
Aside from operating the mouse, the third patient was finally able to regain his voice with AI. Bradford and his team used old video and audio recordings, from before his ALS diagnosis, to train a speech synthesis AI. This allows us to hear him once again, narrating a video which he created himself — something that would’ve been impossible just over a year ago.
BCI technology advances apace
BCI technology is advancing at remarkable speed, with patients now able to use it to operate a computer by themselves. Elon Musk’s firm isn’t by any means the only one working on it. For example, a Chinese company was reportedly working on a competing tech called Neucyber in April last year with the backing of Beijing. The government has even started working on a plan to standardize the technology, which would hopefully make it easier for different companies to cooperate.
Advancements in BCIs are helping paralyzed patients get some control over their lives back, allowing them to use computers without external assistance. And as this tech matures even more, maybe we will have a future where ALS and other debilitating diseases would no longer be a life sentence for those affected.
