I love old blues songs, so I’m happy to use the picture above (Muddy Waters) when talking about how Neuralink muddies the waters of cybernetic technology. News this week highlights an alarming lack of transparency and authenticity when it comes to the world-changing technology of neuro-cybernetic implants.
““This is not like a product launch, We’re talking about human experiments here,” said McGill University’s Jonathan Kimmelman, who studies the introduction of novel medical technologies. “Once you’ve entered the realm of doing human research, you now have a set of expectations and obligations. One of them is transparency,” he said. “You have to be able to establish that the benefits of doing research are sufficient to outweigh the risks and burdens.”
So, yeah. People much smarter than we are sounding the alarm about Neuralink and Elon Musk’s foray into cybernetics. Just another Thursday.
Here’s the Deal
Thing is, love or hate Neuralink, it’s certainly owning the conversation about cybernetic augmentation at a time when we should be celebrating and acting with curiosity toward this fundamentally flourishing area of human exploration. The media cycle – instead of asking smart questions and discussing deep ideas – is out there going ‘NEURALINK NEURALINK NEURALINK.’ Muddies the waters surrounding cybernetic research and exploration.
Shame on you, contributing to this barren bedlam. Waste of public energy for deep consideration. Coaching people into indolent ignorance. What’s the point of exploration and ingenuity if everything gets co-opted by a 21st-century carnie barker? You know that, right? That’s all Musk is – a barker to get you to pay attention. That’s fine, if that’s what you’re into, but the world needs more than a carnie barker now.
Cybernetic augmentation is nothing new – we’ve been talking about it for sixty years. Predictions and ideas surrounding cybernetics have ranged from the extremely helpful to the downright bizarre. We (modern humans) are optimistic about sensible uses for cybernetic technology. On any given week, you’ll hear about another startup working on a cybernetic idea and what it might mean if it actually worked. Heck, I talk about it in Mesh and I wasn’t even aware Musk was gonna make a ‘neuralink.’
Now we get to Neuralink.
Whatever It Is – I Hate It
My concerns with Neuralink began with their horrible track record of animal experimentation. “In 2022, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) alleged that Neuralink and UC Davis had mistreated several monkeys, subjecting them to psychological distress, extreme suffering, and chronic infections due to surgeries.”
But wait, it gets better. “A report by Reuters cited claims from several Neuralink employees that testing was being rushed due to Musk’s demands for fast results, which was leading to needless suffering and deaths among the animals.” If you want to ruin your day even more, you can read this Wired article: The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died. We’re all adults, we know animal experimentation is a sad, but necessary aspect of bioengineering. You’re doing it wrong if your experiments are ‘gruesome.’
None of that seems to matter to Neuralink. Then they stepped into human experimentation and the results speak for themselves:
Doctors are sounding the alarm about Neuralink’s human experiments. “Patients should have serious concerns about the safety of Neuralink’s device,” wrote Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy for the committee, which was founded in 1985 and has over 17,000 doctor members. “There are well-documented reports of company employees conducting rushed, sloppy experiments in monkeys and other animals.”
I’m so over talking about his failings as person. For the rest of my life, I’ll never understand how a billionaire can buy anything he wants, except a clue. “Musk’s magic seems to have run out. His foolish behavior has evaporated billions of dollars of investors wealth. He seems to have lost his bearings.”
Musks’ perpetual outrages are my strongest proof that a super-secret spy organization – a la James Bond – doesn’t really exist. If they did, they would have stepped in by now. The real question now is, ‘yeah, we know he’s a bad person. What / who will stop him?’ I don’t know the answer to that, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.
Cybernetics in a Post-Neuralink Future
Want to hear something weird? I actually hope Neuralink *doesn’t* fail. I hope their human subjects end up okay, thriving with the new tech that Neuralink developed. That would be the best possible outcome and when/if it does, I’ll be the first to say ‘I was wrong.’
That doesn’t seem to be likely, given the current landscape. I don’t want Neuralink to fail, but the outcome seems inevitable. The curtain will pull back on Neuralink, as with other Musk-related tech endeavors. Musk’s ‘reckless’ and ‘oppressive leadership tactics’ will lead to disaster for Neuralink and the people it’s purported to serve. All this has happened before, and it will all happen again.
The larger failure – if Neuralink implodes – is on cybernetic technology. Just as the market soured on autonomous vehicles in a post-Cruise Crash universe, ethical concerns and paranoia about outcomes will infest any future cybernetics project. We’ll turn into panicky passengers on a flight, ringing the call button every time we feel a bump. Perpetual nay-saying will queer the pitch for new cybernetic innovations – undermining well-intentioned efforts to explore this exciting area of endeavor.
Elon Musk may not be able to get out of his own way, but we can get out of HIS way. We don’t have to be like this. Our opportunity is to apply the same critical thinking to Musk’s schemes as we do any other startup:
- ‘Sounds good, show me your proof of concept.’
- ‘Interesting, get back to me in a year when you’re ready to launch.’
- ‘If you’re still doing this in a year, reach out to me.’
Neuralink and Elon Musk are not entitled to our attention. Cybernetic technology and innovation are too important to our species survival to waste on a 21st Century carnival barker. I genuinely hope – for humanity’s sake – that Neuralink doesn’t end in catastrophic failure. Beyond all that, I want us to know that cybernetic technology is another amazing innovation we should devote time and energy to. Now is not the time to let Neuralink muddy the waters of cybernetic technology.
