Elon Musk says merging biological intelligence and artificial intelligence is important to help human beings deal with the AI apocalypse. Almost exactly a month ago, Elon Musk introduced a room of engineers and curious consumers to a sci-fi-sounding invention made by his neurotechnology startup Neuralink: an implantable "brain chip" that will "merge biological intelligence with machine intelligence." Per Musk's description, this chip will be installed in a person's brain by drilling a two-millimeter hole in the skull. "The interface to the chip is wireless, so you have no wires poking out of your head," he assured. Musk argued that such devices will help humans deal with the so-called AI apocalypse, a scenario in which artificial intelligence outpaces human intelligence and takes control of the planet away from the human species.

A group of scientists at OpenAI, a nonprofit research company supported by Elon Musk, has raised some red flags by developing an advanced AI they say is too dangerous to be released. For many years, machine learning systems have greatly struggled with the human language. Though it has been a long time coming, remember SmarterChild from the early 2000s? While it could answer simple questions, the AIM bot usually answered with "I'm sorry I do not understand the question." However, with new methods in analyzing texts, AI has the ability to now answer like a human with little indication that it is a program.

Purdue University researcher Zhongming Liu has been studying the inner workings of the mind for nearly two decades. His goal is to understand how our brains form mental images based on what we see around us. It's one of the most complex questions in neuroscience, and Liu tells Inverse he and his team just got a major assist in understanding human brains from a machine mind. "I've been working on this for years," says Liu. "And it wasn't until now that I've been able to get a substantial breakthrough with the help of A.I." As Liu and his fellow researchers detail in the journal Cerebral Cortex, they used an A.I. neural network -- the same basic tech used in computers and phones for facial recognition -- to interpret the results of MRI scans of people watching videos. The A.I. then revealed what parts of the brain were responding to what images.

The Human Choice and Computers conference is taking place in Manchester, UK and exploring themes related to technology and human intimacy. Experts from the fields of psychology, human behavior and technology are gathering to discuss the impact of tech innovations on wider society. When it comes to the emergence of AI (artificial intelligence) and "robot dolls" in particular, it is said that "robot love" could become addictive enough for it to even be able to overtake human-on-human intimacy. The fear of "The Robots Taking Over" has been well documented, and even world renowned scientist Stephen Hawking once said that "the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," and with any diminishing impact on real human contact, this could literally be the case. In a world where robot technology is able to achieve the same or even better results than a human can, then in the case of robot sex dolls, it could eventually lead to many also deeming amorous encounters with a robot as being better than that with another human being. Robot encounters will certainly require little to no emotional attachments, and no requirement to be rated in terms of ability.