Are Brain Implants the Future of Thinking?

Is there an alternative to implants?

A worn, non-invasive brain computer interface which doesn’t involve brain surgery and can always be taken off may seem attractive. But the skull muffles the reading of neuronal signals. “The physics [of a non-invasive device] are just extremely challenging” says Cynthia Chestek of the University of Michigan.

Some companies are trying anyway. Facebook announced in 2017 it wanted to create a wearable device that would allow typing from the brain at 100 words per minute (as a comparison, Neuralink is striving for 40 words per minute – which is around our average typing speed – and the BrainGate programme which uses Utah array implants has achieved about 8 words per minute, without word prediction).

But assuming the technical challenges can be surmounted, social factors could still be a barrier, says Anna Wexler, who studies the ethical, legal and social implications of emerging neurotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania. Google Glass failed not because it didn’t work but because people didn’t want to wear a face computer. Will anyone trust Facebook enough to use their device if it does develop one?