“One of the first times y’all gave me complete control over this, I actually stayed up until, geez I don’t know, like 6 A.M. playing Civilization 6.”
That’s Noland Arbaugh, the first human to get a brain implant from Neuralink. The implant allows him to control his computer with his mind.
Noland demonstrated this incredible tool with Neuralink engineer Bliss Chapman yesterday, live on X.
How Noland Became Neuralink’s First Patient
Noland, age 29, had a diving accident about 8 years ago. The accident made him a quadriplegic.
In January, he had surgery to implant a Neuralink brain to computer interface.
The implant lets him direct the computer’s cursor wherever he wants. All he has to do is imagine the cursor going there, and it moves!
Noland uses it to play chess, read, and even learn Japanese. すごいですね！
A Repeatable Process?
Implanting the Neuralink device requires surgery. Noland found the process to be smooth and brief:
“The surgery was super easy. I literally was released from the hospital a day after.”
Neuralink is not the only organization to create a brain to computer interface. A group of Stanford researchers did something similar in 2021, allowing a paralyzed man to type.
If multiple groups can pull off a brain to computer interface, these things are really starting to work. We’re homing in on a repeatable process that can be used on more patients.
Every year, about 12,500 people injure their spinal cords in the United States alone. I can’t even imagine what this must be like.
Anything that can help these patients is a wonderful thing. Implants like Neuralink could make it easier for them to work, have fun and be a bigger part of society.
The Neuralink in 2034
What Neuralink has done today is amazing. But let’s imagine where this could be in ten years…
Last week, we saw an incredible demo of the new Figure robot. What if we could give Noland a robotic suit that he could control with his brain implant?
He could walk around, pick things up, and do a lot of what the rest of us take for granted.
Some day, Neuralink implants could spread far beyond people with traumatic injuries. These implants could let the non-disabled control computers with our minds, just like Noland does.
What’s more, the computers we’d be controlling are becoming more powerful by the day. In the future, we may dispatch autonomous AI agents using nothing but our brain.
Let’s say you’re trying to create a new software product.
We would no longer need to sit in a meeting with an engineer and a product manager. Instead, we would just think about what we want to build.
Then, we’d dispatch the Engineer Agent to talk to the Product Agent, using nothing but our minds. They’d build something and present it to us.
Wrap-Up
I’m delighted to see Noland doing so well with his Neuralink!
I look forward to a future where every disabled person has the same options Noland does. And in time, those of us without disabilities could also accomplish amazing things with nothing more than our brains.
What do you think of Neuralink’s new implant? Leave a comment and let us know!
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