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I did my PhD in this field, I love that Neuralink is doing what they’re doing, but I also agree with this article. Your hands on a keyboard is a fantastic brain

I did my PhD in this field, I love that Neuralink is doing what they’re doing, but I also agree with this article. Your hands on a keyboard is a fantastic brain computer interface and represent a high bar that an implanted BCI must clear to add value for non-paralyzed people.

QuantumG 6y ago
I'm typing this to you on an on-screen keyboard with my thumbs. It should be trivial to do better than that with an implant.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  It’s clearly not trivial, otherwise it would already be done. Sometimes “obviously” inferior solutions are actually local maximums, and finding the global maximum is extremely difficult.
  - QuantumG 6y ago
    Sure, or maybe the window for innovation is too small because of gatekeeping. Accessibility software is notoriously horrible because of this reason, why wouldn't hardware be?
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      It seems like you're jumping straight to a conspiracy as the explanation, which does not seem supported by any evidence whatsoever. Why in the world would these supposed Gatekeepers gatekeep away a technology that would provide a massive competitive advantage? Wouldn't they instead do exactly what they've been doing for decades and just buy up this hypothetical new technology? That sure seems to be what Apple is doing; there's an entire wiki page dedicated to Apple acquisitions and what Apple products were derived from it. Why would they suddenly flip into suppressing something better rather than just repeating their standard practice? Perhaps the more plausible answer is that nobody has come up with an interface that beats the smart phone for the general population?
      - QuantumG 6y ago
        There's no conspiracy. What competition? The disabled are lucky to get a single workable solution.
        ashtonkem 6y ago
        You’re the one who said it was trivial and held back by gatekeepers. That sounds conspiracy like to me.
floatboth 6y ago
Well, keyboards are fantastic for programmers and writers who touch type. And of course we don't want to give them up – there's a whole enthusiast community passionate about mechanical switches, pretty keycaps, and ergonomics. For regular people, it seems that voice is a somewhat important interface these days. "Ok google remind me to buy toilet paper" and so on. And honestly… isn't that already better than implanted magic in some ways? People (who can) naturally communicate with other people using voice, not telepathy.
HeadsUpHigh 6y ago
Well they're targeting paralyzed people to start with so they are giving themselves some room to grow.

QuantumG 6y ago

I'm typing this to you on an on-screen keyboard with my thumbs. It should be trivial to do better than that with an implant.

ashtonkem 6y ago
It’s clearly not trivial, otherwise it would already be done. Sometimes “obviously” inferior solutions are actually local maximums, and finding the global maximum is extremely difficult.
- QuantumG 6y ago
  Sure, or maybe the window for innovation is too small because of gatekeeping. Accessibility software is notoriously horrible because of this reason, why wouldn't hardware be?
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    It seems like you're jumping straight to a conspiracy as the explanation, which does not seem supported by any evidence whatsoever. Why in the world would these supposed Gatekeepers gatekeep away a technology that would provide a massive competitive advantage? Wouldn't they instead do exactly what they've been doing for decades and just buy up this hypothetical new technology? That sure seems to be what Apple is doing; there's an entire wiki page dedicated to Apple acquisitions and what Apple products were derived from it. Why would they suddenly flip into suppressing something better rather than just repeating their standard practice? Perhaps the more plausible answer is that nobody has come up with an interface that beats the smart phone for the general population?
    - QuantumG 6y ago
      There's no conspiracy. What competition? The disabled are lucky to get a single workable solution.
      - ashtonkem 6y ago
        You’re the one who said it was trivial and held back by gatekeepers. That sounds conspiracy like to me.

floatboth 6y ago

Well, keyboards are fantastic for programmers and writers who touch type. And of course we don't want to give them up – there's a whole enthusiast community passionate about mechanical switches, pretty keycaps, and ergonomics. For regular people, it seems that voice is a somewhat important interface these days. "Ok google remind me to buy toilet paper" and so on. And honestly… isn't that already better than implanted magic in some ways? People (who can) naturally communicate with other people using voice, not telepathy.

HeadsUpHigh 6y ago

Well they're targeting paralyzed people to start with so they are giving themselves some room to grow.