Neuralink and the future of tomorrow.
Neuralink is the advent of the next evolution of humanity. The progression and use of the device will allow for our species to continue to prosper and reach our goal of collectively exploring the solar system and beyond.
The following are my predictions of the future with the progression of Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Please note, everything contained within this article is purely speculative; optimistically speculative.
For these predictions to be fulfilled, the aspect of war and the further impact of climate change must be responded to accordingly. Support for Neuralink must not face opposition from the public or governing bodies.
2024
Clinical studies on humans will begin. Initially, this will begin with assisting individuals suffering from quadriplegia and other forms of paralysis. Using a mobile application, patients will be able to learn how to control their own mobile device, a mouse (attached to a computer or tablet), and eventually a keyboard for word processing.
Potential of allowing patients to experience tactile feedback and provide rich information such as texture, firmness, and beyond.
Further studies will continue to be conducted on mice to begin furthering progress on other medical advances including mental illnesses.
2025
New trials for treatment/therapy of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Dystonia, OCD, and Epilepsy (already available via other devices). The order of focus for these may be subjective to pitfalls, but the team should be confident in providing all of these benefits via Neuralink using research/methods already provided via other closed-loop therapies.
Further studies into providing closed-loop therapies for Depression, Chronic Pain, and Tinnitus will be considered, but this will be determined by continued investigations. Note that while progress may be made with these, there is an unlikelihood of any “cures” during this period of time.
2026
New trials for providing mapping or otherwise vision to those suffering from blindness due to injury, neurological disorders, or other various causes. Initially, this may begin as casting a “dot matrix” into the visual cortex to display surroundings.
Depending on the aforementioned investigations, there is the potential of providing therapies or otherwise “curing” Depression, Chronic Pain, and Tinnitus during this period of time. This alone has the potential of saving millions of lives each year due to suicide and drug abuse.
Further studies will be conducted on mice throughout this year to begin investigating mood disorder resolutions.
2027–2030
In this period of time, we will begin to see the first cases of individuals being able to “opt-in” to receiving the Neuralink surgery through their insurance, which will initially be reserved for those who are severely ill or experiencing dishabilitating concerns.
The surgery will take about ~2–3 hours and you’ll be able to go home afterward (always out-patient). After the surgery, you will be required to go through a ~30 minute to an hour “demonstration” and explanation of how to use the device, care for it, charging, and so forth. The device will be waterproof.
While speculative and solely my outlook, I believe that Neuralink will begin to shift their focus from 100% Health to about 80% Health, 20% Misc. (Entertainment, Quality of Life, etc). By this point, there will be enough research to allow for the company to begin receiving and monitoring over various body-related functions such as:
- Pain
- Mood
- Hunger
- Thirst
With the potential of progress with:
- Speech and Language
- Memory
- Mathematical reasoning
Towards the end of this period, we’ll potentially see the arrival of a “guest” App Store, kind of like the Tesla currently (2019), where only specific developers and companies will be able to get their projects or “apps” launched onto the Neuralink app (and thus interface directly with the device itself). This may begin as Elon’s umbrella of companies (ie: Tesla and Solar integrations), but will also begin to see Smart Home integrations such as controlling lights, locks, etc.
2031–2035
Ten years from now, life as we know it will be very different. Very different. Many aspects of society and humanity would experience difficulty conceptualizing it from today. I predict the following major changes will have occurred by this period of time.
- Significant increase of life span (and quality of life), increasing on average worldwide by about 20–30% via stem cells and other anti-aging medications and therapies (NAD+, senescent cell reductions)
- Curing of blindness, deafness, paralysis, chronic pain, most neurological/mental illnesses, and mood disorders;
- Quantum computers and AR/VR are far more consumer affordable. This pushes the boundaries of what games/media/entertainment will look like far past what can be conceptualized today. Petabytes will become the new consumer standard (following Moore’s Law), and Exabytes will transition from big business to business.
- Elon’s Starlink (SpaceX) and Amazon are the two ISPs. Others attempt to compete but will die out. The entire world becomes connected.
- Society will have about ~1000–2000 individuals living on the moon. Mostly scientists or the rich (for now).
- Mars may have a few small bases, but there’s a lot of timelines where this can go wrong due to wars and fighting over land.
Anything wrong with the body that normally prescription drugs can resolve (strictly focusing on chemicals that interfere or interact with the brain) can potentially be mimicked via Neurallink and thus it’ll become almost pointless to not have it for the sake of survival.
