Synchron, a rival of Neuralink, has introduced OpenAI’s ‘GPT-4o’ into its brain-computer interface (BCI) device, which is anticipated to enable not only paralyzed patients but in addition normal people to reveal enhanced brain abilities.
Bloomberg reported on the eleventh (local time) that Tom Oxley, CEO of Synchron, announced that that they had integrated GPT-4o into their device called ‘Stentrode’.
Unlike Neuralink, which drills a hole within the skull to insert a chip, Synchron implants the device right into a vein within the neck. It transmits brain signals through the blood vessel to an external device, corresponding to a tablet, and controls the cursor with thoughts.
Oxley said the merger was a major step toward improving brain power in healthy people. “It’s still in its infancy, but when AI and brain devices come together, it will probably produce very powerful results,” he said.
In other words, previously, text was written by moving the mouse cursor through the device, which was a time-consuming task.
Nonetheless, AI can analyze the continuing conversation and recommend contextual answers. It will probably also read email content upfront and generate really helpful responses before you write. It will probably also seek for things like weather or recent information instantly and supply the data you would like.
This makes it much easier for users to process their tasks by simply choosing one among the recommendations.
That is a proof that can be useful for peculiar people. It’s because for those who just speak, AI will understand the encircling situation, search the network, and suggest solutions.
Oxley’s claim is according to the prediction of futurist Ray Kurzweil, who predicted that the human brain will probably be networked through AI around 2045. As an alternative of BCI, Kurzweil predicted that nanobots will act as devices. In other words, the introduction of AI into BCI shows the opportunity of ‘transhumanism’, the fusion of humans and machines.
In fact, this also brings to mind a dystopian scenario just like the movie ‘The Matrix’, where brain data is transmitted and shared with large language models (LLMs).
On this, Oxley drew a line. “We don’t share brain data with OpenAI,” he said.
Synchron is a pacesetter on this field, having succeeded in clinical trials of BCI a yr before Elon Musk’s Neuralink. It also recently announced plans to expand its treatment beyond paralysis to incorporate epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
In this example, CEO Musk has revealed that he’ll go one step further with OpenAI technology, his arch-rival. He also said that he plans to utilize models from other corporations in the longer term.
Meanwhile, Neuralink plans to perform surgery on its second brain chip patient next week.
Reporter Im Dae-jun ydj@aitimes.com
