Dumb Transhumanist Ideas Stymie Neurotech Progress, Experts Warn
The year has been a boom for neurotechnology, with groundbreaking brain implants and eye transplants successfully decoding speech and restoring vision to patients suffering from paralysis and blindness. However, the rapid advancement of this field is being hindered by the influence of tech moguls like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, who are more interested in uploading their brains into computers or merging with AI than focusing on curing diseases.
"These narratives are distorting the debate," said Marcello Ienca, a professor of neuroethics at the Technical University of Munich. "The long-term concern is about the implications of these ideas, which could lead to misguided regulation and a lack of focus on actual health advancements."
Michael Hendricks, a professor of neurobiology at McGill, agrees that rich individuals with transhumanist ideologies are clouding public understanding of neurotechnology's potential. "Elon Musk's vision for Neuralink is legitimate technology development for neuroscience, but then he starts talking about telepathy and other futuristic concepts that have no basis in reality," Hendricks said.
The influence of these investors has led to a surge in investment in neurotechnologies from Silicon Valley firms, with companies like Apple and Meta also working on wearable devices that leverage neural data. However, many experts believe that this focus on consumer wearables and science fiction applications is diverting attention away from the real breakthroughs being made in medical devices.
"The frontier of neurotechnology can be understood into three distinct categories," said Hervé Chneiweiss, a neuroscientist who chaired a panel of experts advising Unesco. "There are medical devices that promise to restore vision and hearing, treat neurodegenerative diseases, or even psychiatric disorders. However, these advancements are tightly regulated, and the hype surrounding brain-computer interfaces is misleading."
In contrast, consumer wearables like EEG earbuds raise concerns about surveillance and data privacy, but their effectiveness is also in question due to limited evidence and noisy data. The science-fiction applications of neurotechnology, such as brain uploading, are also seen as unrealistic and potentially threatening.
"We have so many ways to influence people through language and simple visual media," Hendricks said. "I don't think that brain implants would catch up with the amount of granular data that big tech companies already have."
As experts warn, the dumb transhumanist ideas being promoted by Musk and Altman are stymying progress in neurotechnology, diverting attention away from actual health advancements and creating unnecessary regulatory hurdles.
The year has been a boom for neurotechnology, with groundbreaking brain implants and eye transplants successfully decoding speech and restoring vision to patients suffering from paralysis and blindness. However, the rapid advancement of this field is being hindered by the influence of tech moguls like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, who are more interested in uploading their brains into computers or merging with AI than focusing on curing diseases.
"These narratives are distorting the debate," said Marcello Ienca, a professor of neuroethics at the Technical University of Munich. "The long-term concern is about the implications of these ideas, which could lead to misguided regulation and a lack of focus on actual health advancements."
Michael Hendricks, a professor of neurobiology at McGill, agrees that rich individuals with transhumanist ideologies are clouding public understanding of neurotechnology's potential. "Elon Musk's vision for Neuralink is legitimate technology development for neuroscience, but then he starts talking about telepathy and other futuristic concepts that have no basis in reality," Hendricks said.
The influence of these investors has led to a surge in investment in neurotechnologies from Silicon Valley firms, with companies like Apple and Meta also working on wearable devices that leverage neural data. However, many experts believe that this focus on consumer wearables and science fiction applications is diverting attention away from the real breakthroughs being made in medical devices.
"The frontier of neurotechnology can be understood into three distinct categories," said Hervé Chneiweiss, a neuroscientist who chaired a panel of experts advising Unesco. "There are medical devices that promise to restore vision and hearing, treat neurodegenerative diseases, or even psychiatric disorders. However, these advancements are tightly regulated, and the hype surrounding brain-computer interfaces is misleading."
In contrast, consumer wearables like EEG earbuds raise concerns about surveillance and data privacy, but their effectiveness is also in question due to limited evidence and noisy data. The science-fiction applications of neurotechnology, such as brain uploading, are also seen as unrealistic and potentially threatening.
"We have so many ways to influence people through language and simple visual media," Hendricks said. "I don't think that brain implants would catch up with the amount of granular data that big tech companies already have."
As experts warn, the dumb transhumanist ideas being promoted by Musk and Altman are stymying progress in neurotechnology, diverting attention away from actual health advancements and creating unnecessary regulatory hurdles.
Elon's ego over brains? 
. and what really gets me is that the people funding this stuff are like, super rich & influential, so of course their ideas come first 
. its time to get back on track and make neurotech work for everyone, not just the privileged few 
people need to focus on making us see again or hear properly not some sci-fi fantasy 
but then I started reading about this stuff and I'm like what's the point if we're not gonna focus on curing actual diseases? 
it's like they're trying to read our minds or something 
for real tho the experts are saying that these tech moguls are stymieing progress because of their stupid ideas 
The neurotech community is being held back by these transhumanist thinkers and it's a shame because there are some amazing breakthroughs happening 
. Like, eye transplants that restore vision to patients with blindness - that's real progress! 
Not the brain-uploading nonsense 
. We need experts like Marcello Ienca, Michael Hendricks, and Hervé Chneiweiss guiding us towards actual health advancements, not just chasing after futuristic pipe dreams 
.
and what bothers me is how companies like Apple & Meta are jumping on the bandwagon w/ consumer wearables 
and its all just a bunch of hype 
. And we're supposed to be excited about that? Give me a break. I want to see some real progress in neurotech, not just more "innovation" that's going to benefit billionaires rather than actual people 
.
. I mean, yeah we can get people to talk with implants, but what's the point of that? We're still stuck on wearable devices that are more like glorified fitness trackers than actual health monitors 
. I need to see some real evidence that these technologies can actually help people before I start jumping on the bandwagon 
. Give me a break when they start talking about "uploading" their brains into computers - like, what's next? 
i think its kinda weird that rich people like him are more worried bout uploading their brains into computers than actually helping ppl with paralysis or blindness 
. We can't let a few tech moguls dictate how far forward our medical advancements should go, or we'll be stuck in a never-ending loop of "what if" 
. Let's just keep a level head and focus on making things better for real people 