Musk pig

The Musk pig also known as Neuralink pig, refers to a demonstration by Elon Musk's company Neuralink in August 2020. In the demonstration, a pig named Gertrude was implanted with a Neuralink Brain–computer interface (BCI), the size of a coin (23 millimeters), with the purpose of showing the progress the company had made in developing a BCI that could one day help treat neurological conditions, enable brain-to-machine communication, and potentially enhance human cognition.

Demonstration

In August 2020, in a live demo, Gertrude’s brain activity was displayed in real time. Neuralink device implanted in Gertrude's brain recorded signals from the neurons connected to her snout as it interacted with its environment, such as when it sniffed or touched things. The device is removable. The data showed that the technology could read and interpret brain signals, which is key to developing applications that could help people with dementia, paralysis, memory loss, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and other neurological challenges.

The demonstration also had 2 other pigs. One of the pig had once had a Neuralink chip implanted in its brain and subsequently removed to demonstrate that the chip can be safely removed without affecting the health of the pigs negatively. The third pig had not had a chip implanted in its brain at all, even in the past. The aim of the third was for comparison to show that show a similarity in health and behavior of both implanted and non-implanted pigs.

Aim

Musk envisioned this as a step toward making BCIs mainstream, with future versions potentially allowing humans to control computers or devices with their minds. Other functionalities it aimed to achieve was restore lost sensory and motor functions, and possibly achieve advanced capabilities, like uploading thoughts or interfacing directly with artificial intelligence.

Concerns

Concerns about Neuralink include animal welfare regarding ethical treatment and safety in testing. For humans, risks involve potential complications from brain surgery, like infection or long-term damage.Additionally, privacy issues arise as brain data could be vulnerable to misuse or hacking, raising security concerns about how such sensitive information would be protected.