What if your brain gets hacked! What can happen! Here’s what the first Neuralink patient explains if his brain-chip implant gets hacked. Reportedly, Neuralink’s brain chip already showed promising results for its first recipient Noland Arbaugh, since he received it in January.
But when asked about if the chip could be hacked or not, Arbaugh said that it’s definitely possible to hack a brain chip implant, as reported by Business Insider.
Brain got hacked?
“The short answer is yes,” Arbaugh said in a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released on Thursday. During the podcast Rogan had casually discussed the possibility of humans being hacked and becoming cyborgs. In response to this, Arbaugh said hacking his brain implant wouldn’t do much, at least at this point.
During the podcast, Noland Arbaugh said that in case the brain chip gets hacked ‘in theory’, a hacker could see his brain data or access his PC by controlling a cursor.
“You might be able to see some of the brain signals,” Arbaugh explained, adding that “You might be able to see some of the data that Neuralink collects.”
Noland Arbaugh on ‘hacking brain-chip implant’
Earlier this year Arbaugh, who is a 29-year-old quadriplegic, previously told Business Insider that the brain chip has given him more independence and helped him reconnect socially.
Reportedly the chip allows him to control a cursor on his computer using only his brain. “I’ve been using it to message people on X, use Instagram, reply to emails, play fantasy sports, read comics online, and access a site I use to learn Japanese. I also used it to book a hotel for when I visited Neuralink’s headquarters,” Arbaugh had explained.
Furthermore, Arbaugh said that he was already warned about the risk before he started the study, but he’s not worried about it. “It is what it is. I think if it happens, it happens,” Arbaugh said during the podcast with Rogan. The current focus is expected to be on Neuralink for medical uses, as reported by Business Insider.
The future ahead
Elon Musk, who is the founder of Neuralink, predicted that the chip will one day be able to “solve” mental conditions like autism and schizophrenia. It is believed that Musk also plans to make Neuralink chips mainstream and turn them into a “Fitbit in your skull.” However, if it gets into reality, things might take a wrong turn and hacking concerns might increase.
However, some neuroscientists don’t seem to agree with Musk’s statements. They seem to think the chip will not be able to change the developmental structure of the brain impacted by certain conditions.
Furthermore, it looks like the technology might have the potential to help paralyzed patients like Arbaugh, who had experienced improved movement.
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