NEUROETHICS

Neuralink – Black Mirror’s Next Unreleased Episode

Elon Musk, after his success with SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has focused his gaze onto something far closer, our own brains. In 2016, he created “Neuralink”, an overambitious – as some people would say -company, that is primarily working on the production of the “Link”. 

By Adriana Papasavva Ortiz

April  11, 2021

The Link is a neural implant, or more simplistically a chip with a number of micro-electrodes, which are inserted into the brain and connect to several neurons. It has the size of a coin and once it is placed in the skull, no one would know that you are carrying it (at least if you have substantially long hair). Additionally, Neuralink’s team is working on the development of a robotic system that a neurosurgeon will use to successfully insert the electrodes. 

But what is the problem?

Neuralink’s main goal according to its official website, is to let you control a computer or mobile device anywhere you go, something possible through the processing, stimulation and transmission of electrical signals to specific neurons, to imitate the communication of normal neural signalling. However, Elon Musk himself, stated in a product presentation that took place in August 2020, that Neuralink’s goal is to solve “important spine and brain problems” with an affordable and user-friendly device. These problems include blindness, paralysis, insomnia, addiction and generally all sorts of diseases that have to do with the nervous system. Not only that, but he also stated that the Link could be used to share data to our friends, save memories and even entertain us by playing music. 

Apart from the informational contradiction and inaccuracy that exists around the company’s ultimate intentions, we also have to consider the limits of neuroscience. Currently, brain reading technology is being developed, but it’s still in a primitive stage. Scientists have achieved to create computational models that encode and decode brain activity from specific areas of the brain – like high level visual areas – however, they still don’t produce highly accurate results about semantic relationships. So, it seems almost delusional that a chip would be able to send specific messages, such as colours, to decode largely complex processes, as emotions, activate specific neurons in synchrony to play music, and on top of that cure diseases such as Alzheimer’s and epilepsy. 

The Internet and our Brains

As these goals seem rose-coloured, we owe to process the potential negative impacts of such an advancement. The digitalisation of our society has undeniably ameliorated numerous aspects of our lives, but it has also taken a toll on our privacy. The mere use of several platforms on the internet helps the – notorious – algorithm understand better what we like, so as to present us more attractive and personalised posts and advertisements, something we comply with in exchange of using a particular app for free.

Do the phrases “Terms and Conditions” and “Privacy Statement” sound familiar? Probably, but we all know that nobody actually reads them, however, they include a tricky section that you should be aware of. Usually, the company expresses that if our personal data end up in the hands of “third party companies”, they will not bear any responsibility for the use they will make. These mysterious companies create individual profiles composed of our interactions on the internet and then sell them to companies that want to increase their sales, by getting a better understanding of their customers. So, in all probability, an extensive list of things you like and repel you, constituting your profile, is floating in a huge computer, waiting to be sold.

Our sense of privacy has been also threatened through the development of facial recognition. Here the theory of obscurity plays an important role, as it states that “information is safe – at least to some degree - when it is hard to obtain or understand”. In contrast, “Yandex” a Russian browsing tool, allows you by uploading an image of a person to find available photos on the internet of them. So, when platforms allow you to find personal photos of random people you may encounter with in the streets, this poses a menace to the sense of anonymity. At the same time, our online behaviour is pretty paradoxical; we live increasingly lonely lives yet we share plenty of personal details. This complex behaviour is known as the privacy paradox. So, our transparent behaviour on social media contributes to the creation of a vicious cycle.

The Link and our brains

So, coming back to our main subject, if at some point in the future, a chip that allows us to have direct access into people’s minds is developed, how are we going to ensure that it is going to be used ethically? Taking into consideration how naively we have used the internet until now, what are going to be the consequences when we’ll interact with A.I. without filtering our actions through our thumbs? How is that information going to be used? Will the chip be able to affect our subconscious levels of information processing?

The only sure thing is that this whole story can propel our imagination into a dystopian science fiction story. If in the end a chip like that is developed, it would be interesting if only for once we don’t let history repeat itself, and actually take action and encounter the variety of ethical issues that could arise, before it is too late. 

Adriana Papasavva is completing her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of Bristol. She holds the Bristol Plus Award for her extracurricular activities. She is a member of the British Neuroscience Association and the Data Science Society of the University of Bristol. She has received the iKEEP project training for business intrapreneurship, organised by the University of Exeter. She has published literary articles in magazines such as ‘El Pensador’. She is fluent in Greek, Spanish, English, and French.