19.03.2024

AI brain chips will ‘evolve’ humanity into ‘zombies’

Those implanting AI into their mind risk merging with machines to the point that humans and androids are indistinguishable from one another, the expert said.

AI brain chips are set to ‘evolve’ humanity into a ‘community of zombies’, a prominent neuroscientist has claimed.

It was recently revealed that a tech company backed by billionaire Elon Musk is developing a ‘brain-computer interface’ that could give people super intelligence and allow them to communicate telepathically.

Dr Mikhail Lebedev, a senior neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham claims AI brain chips are set to ‘evolve’ humanity into a ‘community of zombies’ (stock image)

CURRENT USES FOR BRAIN CHIPS

Kernel is currently working on prototypes of a brain implant device for medical use in humans.

The firm has started to conduct tests with epilepsy patients in hospitals.

Speaking to IEEE Spectrum, Dr Berger said: ‘We’re testing it in humans now, and getting good initial results.

‘We’re going to go forward with the goal of commercialising this prosthesis.’

But before being developed for healthy people, the firm hopes that the device will be used to improve memory in people with degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Speaking to New Scientist, Mr Johnson said: ‘The idea is that if you have loss of memory function, then you could build a prosthetic for the hippocampus that would help restore the circuitry, and restore memory.

‘The first super-humans are those who have deficits to start with.’

But brain implants could mean that machines start to take on or imitate human consciousness, Dr Mikhail Lebedev, a senior neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, told Cnet.

The researcher warned that technology firms will falsely market the devices as a ‘panacea’ — a remedy for all difficulties.

‘It is even possible that «humanity» will evolve into a community of zombies,’ he said.

‘Luckily this is not a problem as of yet.’

If humans begin to take on the qualities of machines, the line between the two will blur, he added.

Implanting a microchip into your brain may sound like the plot from a science fiction blockbuster, but some claim this technology could be a reality within 15 years.

The chips will allow people to buy and delete memories, and will soon be as popular as smartphones, according to Bryan Johnson, an expert working on such a device.

Speaking at Web Summit in Lisbon last month, Mr Johnson, who is the founder of Kernel, a start-up developing brain microchips, said that unlocking the potential of the mind is the ‘single greatest thing’ humanity can achieve.

‘I would expect in around 15-20 years we will have a sufficiently robust set of tools for the brain that we could pose any question we wanted,’ he said.

‘For example, could I have a perfect memory? Could I delete my memories? Could I increase my rate of learning, could I have brain to brain communication?’

Mr Johnson added that this new technology a ‘necessity’ for the future of humanity.

Those implanting microcomputers into their mind risk merging with machines to the point that humans androids are indistinguishable from one another, an expert has claimed (stock image)

Those implanting microcomputers into their mind risk merging with machines to the point that humans androids are indistinguishable from one another, an expert has claimed (stock image)

‘I consider myself to be cognitively impaired because I am limited by my biases, by my blind spots,’ he said.

Kernel is currently working on prototypes of a brain implant device for medical use in humans.

The firm has started to conduct tests with epilepsy patients in hospitals.

Speaking to IEEE Spectrum, Dr Berger said: ‘We’re testing it in humans now, and getting good initial results.

It was recently revealed that a tech company backed by billionaire Elon Musk (file photo) is developing a 'brain-computer interface' that could give people super intelligence and allow them to communicate telepathically

It was recently revealed that a tech company backed by billionaire Elon Musk (file photo) is developing a ‘brain-computer interface’ that could give people super intelligence and allow them to communicate telepathically

‘We’re going to go forward with the goal of commercialising this prosthesis.’

But before being developed for healthy people, the firm hopes that the device will be used to improve memory in people with degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Speaking to New Scientist, Mr Johnson said: ‘The idea is that if you have loss of memory function, then you could build a prosthetic for the hippocampus that would help restore the circuitry, and restore memory.’

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