Will Machines Out-Evolve Humans?
Robot apocalypse. Machines gone rogue. Artificial intelligence taking over the world.
I used to think that aliens were the worst thing that could happen to Earth, but things just go a whole lot scarier: super-robots with high-tech intelligence.
Well…not just yet.
Actually, the sort of artificial apocalypse our society is facing today isn’t too far from our species’, as humans, greatest fear — that we will one day be taken over by a better species. If we look at modern machine learning (if case you didn’t know, machine learning is the ability for AI to learn on their own!) from AI, it is very likely that in the near future, machines will out-evolve humans.
If AI continues to evolve at this exponential speed, humans will seem like cats to machines — we will be treated as pets (we still love cats though!).
So here is a new solution: Instead of letting AI evolve faster that us, why don’t we evolve at the same speed as them? Why don’t we co-exist with machines?
If fact, brain computer interfaces allow such to happen.
Introducing…BCIs:
Think about your brain. It sends neural impulses to different parts of your body to give neurons information. Want to move your arm? A neural impulse from your brain will tell your arm to do so. But what if we had artificial neural impulses that can do so much more than tell your arm what to do? What if that artificial neural impulse can tell an inanimate object what to do…such as turning on the lights or telling a computer to download information onto your brain?
Yeah, a brain computer interface (BCI) can do that.
Current Uses for BCIs:
Imagine that a gateway between point A and B are connected by a bridge, where a car can cross the bridge to get to its destination. Now what were to happen if that bridge were to break? There would be no way for that car to get from point A to point B, right? If we put this scenario into context, this is what happens to those with paralysis — the “bridge” (nerves) between the brain (“point A”) is broken between the paralyzed limb (“point B”) and because the bridge cannot reconstruct itself, the car (neural impulse) cannot get to its destination. In essence, neural networks can’t travel from the brain to the limb, hence paralysis.
But a BCI can become that new, reconstructed bridge! An electrode measures the neural impulses coming from your brain and translates it to a computer which then communicates with another electrode implanted in the area of paralysis. I mean, it has already worked with monkeys:
BCIs can not only cure paralysis, but it can even allow people with missing limbs to move and feel their prosthetics. Since BCIs are connected to the brain with electroencephalograms (ie. those caps with all the electrodes attached to it) and electrocorticographic (ie. brain chips) BCIs, they can also regulate our mental illnesses: for instance, people with seizures experience abnormal electrical activity in the brain, but a BCI can detect this and regulate the activity. This means BCIs can also help with anxiety, depression, etc.
Now take BCIs to the next level.
BCIs — The Future:
Imagine having electrocorticographic brain chips for humans so that we can upload and download information just by thinking, “I want to learn about chemistry today; let’s download some research papers onto my brain!” Can you believe how smart we will be?
Imagine being connected to your house: “I feel cold in here. Fireplace — turn on!”
Imagine having a conversation by thinking: “Hey Jo, what’s up? Do you want to enter my dream world?” Yeah, imagine sharing dreams too.
I mean, the possibilities are endless:
- reliving memories;
- reliving other people’s memories;
- having high-resolution vision (like…zooming in on stuff, too);
- being able to see things that our eyes cannot (such as radio frequencies);
- etc (and this is only the beginning!)
If we were interconnected to people and were able to control objects by simply thinking, we would be a super-duper highly advanced species. Being half artificial intelligence and human intelligence, we wouldn’t have to worry about machines out-evolving us!
BCI technology already exists, so it is before long that this super-human fantasy will come true…
Company spotlights: Neuralink & Kernel
Neuralink
Neuralink is a company started by none other than Elon Musk. Yes, the CEO of Tesla — the guy who is literally living in the future of the world.
The goal of Neuralink is to merge man with machine; to fuse human intelligence with AI to bring humanity up to a higher level of cognitive reasoning.
This company uses a technology called neural lace. It is made of ultra-thin mesh that is implanted in the skull and forms a body of electrodes which are able to monitor brain function. The lace then connects the brain and transforms its neural networks into data which is sent to a computer. With more research, neural lace will eventually be able to upload or download information directly from a computer!
Kernel
Similarly to Neuralink, Kernel’s goal is to out-complete or co-evolve alongside machines by building BCIs that will allow humans to read and write their own neural codes. They have also created the first neural prosthetic for human intelligence!
So…Will Machines Out-Evolve Humans?
As Elon Musk puts it:
“Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.”
So as long as we merge artificial intelligence with human intelligence, we will be able to out-complete or co-evolve with machines.
The Ultimate Summary:
- Brain Computer Interfaces read neural impulses and sends the data to a computer.
- BCIs are currently being used with paralysis, prosthetics and mental illnesses.
- There are endless possibilities with BCIs in the future — more than we can ever imagine!
- We can merge artificial intelligence and human intelligence to co-exist or out-complete AI.
Hi! I’m Jenny, a sixteen-year old innovator hoping to solve the world’s biggest problems. If you liked this article, stay tuned for more😎
Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or follow this Medium account!
