Elon Musk Gives Update on His 'Neural Lace' Brain Computer
With all the fear surrounding any new developments in artificial intelligence, one man has proposed a radical theory - to keep ahead of the AI game, we have to become the AI. As usual, that man is Elon Musk.
Musk just tweeted what is possibly an update about his Neural Lace system: in response to a fan's tweet asking about it, Musk responded "maybe next month." If he's serious, next month is even sooner than we had hoped.
For those who don't know, Musk's neural lace system is essentially a digital brain-to-computer interface. Users would be fitted with a microchip in their brain, designed to give ourselves an extra layer of AI intelligence. A wire mesh would connect the implant to the brain's biological elements, and would be programmed to regulate chemicals released by the brain, artificially enhancing certain "human functions." So far, it would require at least some sort of surgical insertion into your veins, and if you think that sounds terrifying, you're not alone.
Musk thinks that becoming the machine is the best way to make sure that we can survive in an AI dominated world that is surely around the corner. The billionaire entrepreneur said at the Code Conference 2016 that AI would reduce us to "house cats" in regard to how useful we'd be in important tasks.


Musk has been tweeting and spreading hype for his surgical brain computer since last June, warning how careful we need to be with AI. He later called AI "potentially more dangerous than nukes." In an interview this past summer with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Musk made comments about how he believes that AI will domesticate us in the takeover, not unlike a trained Labrador Retriever.
But could the neural lace really be our saving grace? Early experiments on lab mice showed that not only did the mice survive the procedure necessary to implant the neural lace, they also were sending and receiving brain signals augmented by the lace itself. Only time will tell if humans are ready, though Musk seems quite confident now.
Musk just tweeted what is possibly an update about his Neural Lace system: in response to a fan's tweet asking about it, Musk responded "maybe next month." If he's serious, next month is even sooner than we had hoped.
@BelovedRevol Maybe next month
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017
For those who don't know, Musk's neural lace system is essentially a digital brain-to-computer interface. Users would be fitted with a microchip in their brain, designed to give ourselves an extra layer of AI intelligence. A wire mesh would connect the implant to the brain's biological elements, and would be programmed to regulate chemicals released by the brain, artificially enhancing certain "human functions." So far, it would require at least some sort of surgical insertion into your veins, and if you think that sounds terrifying, you're not alone.
Musk thinks that becoming the machine is the best way to make sure that we can survive in an AI dominated world that is surely around the corner. The billionaire entrepreneur said at the Code Conference 2016 that AI would reduce us to "house cats" in regard to how useful we'd be in important tasks.

"I don't love the idea of being a house cat, but what's the solution? I think one of the solutions that seems maybe the best is to add and AI layer, a third, digital layer that could work well and symbiotically."

Musk has been tweeting and spreading hype for his surgical brain computer since last June, warning how careful we need to be with AI. He later called AI "potentially more dangerous than nukes." In an interview this past summer with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Musk made comments about how he believes that AI will domesticate us in the takeover, not unlike a trained Labrador Retriever.
But could the neural lace really be our saving grace? Early experiments on lab mice showed that not only did the mice survive the procedure necessary to implant the neural lace, they also were sending and receiving brain signals augmented by the lace itself. Only time will tell if humans are ready, though Musk seems quite confident now.
Creating a neural lace is the thing that really matters for humanity to achieve symbiosis with machines
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2016