Elon Musk’s quest to wirelessly connect human brains with machines has run into a seemingly impossible obstacle, experts say. The company is now asking the public for help finding a solution.
Musk’s startup Neuralink, which is in the early stages of testing in human subjects, is pitched as a brain implant that will let people control computers and other devices using their thoughts. Some of Musk’s predictions for the technology include letting paralyzed people “walk again and use their arms normally.”
Turning brain signals into computer inputs means transmitting a lot of data very quickly. A problem for Neuralink is that the implant generates about 200 times more brain data per second than it can currently wirelessly transmit. Now, the company is seeking a new algorithm that can transmit this data in a smaller package — a process called compression — through a public challenge.
As a barebones web page announcing the Neuralink Compression Challenge posted on Thursday explains, “[greater than] 200x compression is needed.” The winning solution must also run in real time, and at low power.
Why should we? What’s in it for us?
A job interview! (I wish I was joking).
You can have a free “flamethrower” cigarette lighter. The company is bankrupt, and musk has a warehouse if the things he didn’t sell.
Nothing, but then you could patent it and license it to anyone but elon :) are you motivated yet?
I mean damn bro helping humans potentially walk again is a pretty big “for us” thing if you think about it in terms of humankind and not just yourself. Like imagine if someone were trying to cure cancer with the help of the public and you’re all like “well what the fuck is in it for ME though?”
Imagine we all pooled our resources to fund medical research through taxes only for private companies to exploit the technology and jack up the prices…
A brain implant for rich people isn’t necessarily “for us”.