Experts: artificial intelligence could hijack brain-computer interfaces

Ever since Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk announced his plans to develop a brain-computer interface (BCI) through his Neuralink startup, BCI technologies have received more attention. Musk, however, wasn't the first to propose the possibility of enhancing human capabilities through brain-computer interfacing. A number of other startups are working on a similar goal, including Braintree founder Bryan Johnson with Kernel. Even the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on one. Now, according to a collaboration of 27 experts--neuroscientists, neurotechnologists, clinicians, ethicists and machine-intelligence engineers--calling themselves the Morningside Group, BCIs present a unique and rather disturbing conundrum in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). Essentially designed to hack the brain, BCIs themselves run the risk of being hacked by AI. "Such advances could revolutionize the treatment of many conditions, from brain injury and paralysis to epilepsy and schizophrenia, and transform human experience for the better," the experts wrote in a comment piece in the journal Nature.