On Concerns Associated with the Neuralink

Source: This post on Concerns Associated with the Neuralink has been created based on the article “Elon Musk’s Neuralink is a minefield of scientific and ethical concerns” published in “Indian Express” on 9^th February 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Science and Technology – Developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

News: The article discusses the ethical and legal concerns associated with Neuralink.

A detailed article on Brain-Computer Interface can be read here.

Background:

Elon Musk announced recently that the first human implantation of the Neuralink device — called Telepathy — has been achieved and the recovery and initial data collection are in progress and going well.

What is Neuralink?

Neuralink is a tech startup, and its product is a chip that is a surgically implantable device.

It can record a massive amount of data from individual neurons and transmit it to a computer, which in turn can read the intention coded in that data to execute a certain task.

What are the intended objectives of Neuralink?

1) Short-Term: Controlling Digital Devices: It will give people affected by paralysis the ability to control digital devices through thought and intention. This will be helpful for a clinically and neurologically disabled population.

2) Long-Term: Creating a Brain-Computer Interface: It aims to “create a generalised brain interface to unlock human potential.” In other words, to change and enhance cognitive abilities (the brain’s ability to perform core tasks like thinking, memorizing, visualizing, interpreting surroundings) in healthy humans.

What are the ethical and legal concerns arising out of this?

1) Safety Concerns: The recording electrodes as part of the chip in the brain may lead to micro-injuries in the brain. This may lead to microbleeds, strokes or other forms of brain injuries, and cause serious neurological conditions such as neurodegeneration.

2) Ethical Concerns: Data ownership is an extremely important ethical issue. There is no clarity on who the recorded data belongs to – the subjects or Neuralink.

3) Lack of Transparency: Replicability and the scrutiny of the raw data from the scientific community is important for any scientific innovation. However, there has been mystery over the development of Neuralink and pre-clinical testing results.

4) Outside Regulatory Oversight: Its clinical trial has not been registered (at clinicaltrials.gov). Due to this, it is difficult to determine the conditions under which these trials will be conducted.

What should be the way forward?

Neuralink should be more open about the data it generates and about its device since secrecy does not instill confidence and trust.

Question for practice:

What are the ethical and legal concerns associated with Brain-Computer Interface devices such as Neuralink?