The Implications of Neuralink and Brain Machine Interface Technologies

Brain machine interfaces (BMI) have traditionally been considered for medical prosthetics. They are now being presented as a means to “merge with the AI”. Entrepreneur Elon Musk has begun trialing his Neuralink technology on pigs, and hopes to incorporate human subjects into his clinical trials of a “breakthrough technology” before year end. Independent of the technology’s success to continue through the medical innovation process via the US Food and Drug Administration, it is time to be pondering the social implications of this novel technology. This paper points to some of the questions philosophers and practitioners alike are asking about the potential for BMI.