Elon Musk-backed Neuralink is teeing up for clinical trials on humans with a view to accomplish the human brain implant by the end of the year. However, this is just the beginning. Remember the movie Transcendence where Johnny Depp (Dr Will Caster) turns into a superintelligent AI. Well, the timeline to superintelligence is shortening.

Last December, a 63-year-old Australian Philip O’Keefe, who is suffering from ALS, tweeted his thoughts with the help of a computer chip implanted in his brain.

In July 2021, the researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) leveraged AI to help a paralysed man communicate by translating his brain signals into computer-generated writing. The researchers used a neuroprosthetic device to track his brain signals.

As of now, the commercial use cases of AI chips or brain-computer interface (BCI) are few and far between. Currently, BMI is mostly used to help paralysed people interact. However, some scientists and philosophers warn of the dangers of an insubordinate superintelligent AI. Earlier, the Centre for Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development demonstrated it would be impossible to control a superintelligent AI. 

Enter, individual artificial intelligence

Now, AI and machine learning are used to control cars, compose music, or beat the world champions in Go, Chess, esports game (Dota), etc. Now, the question is, is it possible to seamlessly integrate the human brain with AI? 

If we look at brain synapses, the structural properties of transmembrane proteins in channels allow human intelligence to perform as a classic binary system-symbiosis. In the future, scientists could build a highly unique artificial intelligence, aka individual artificial intelligence that directly connects the neurons in the human brain to a computer.

At present, all the AI systems have one thing in common – they are developed as vertically controlled electronic complexes that operate using algorithms/code of varying complexity. In individual artificial intelligence, the AI is turned into a bio-electronic crossover, in which a machine and human mind will cooperate in a double integral framework. 

How is it different

Compared to electronic systems, the processing power of the human brain is limited. However, the plasticity, creativity, and energy efficiency of the human brain are difficult to simulate.

Computer systems process information faster than humans, with 3 million times signal transmission speed than us.

When you combine the human brain and computer into a single system, it will increase the overall efficiency and create a new type of artificial intelligence in the process.

A final thought 

While the traditional model of neural computer interface based on surgical implants is simpler than the idea of transmembrane proteins at synapses, research is underway to make the latter a reality.

Today, everyone expects an engineer to build a strong AI, but in the days to come, a doctor or a neurologist will probably inspire the next big breakthrough in AI. 

This article is written by a member of the AIM Leaders Council. AIM Leaders Council is an invitation-only forum of senior executives in the Data Science and Analytics industry. To check if you are eligible for a membership, please fill out the form here.