As another poster said, they used RNN to decode handwriting. While there was an increased character rate observed, that is substantial compared to other such systems, that is not necessarily what is groundbreaking here. You would probably need a very powerful desktop (or a laptop with a desktop processor, >$4,000) with the best imaginable specifications to pull this off. So, it is of extremely limited use for the disabled individual.
With brain computer interfaces you use motor imagery [1], where you imagine motor movements (e.g. moving your left arm so that your palms face outward, and imagining the position of your shoulder, arm, and fingers) to control the BCI interface, such as in the case with prosthetics or this case handwriting. I imagine since this is fine motor movements (a different brain circuit, too) that it is much more difficult to visualize.
Motor imagery is also used in stroke rehabilitation. It is also used for sports performance.
Graded motor imagery [2] is a variant of motor imagery and there are apps for that. It basically rewires your brain’s pain circuits and makes pain more manageable and more controllable. It works for chronic pain, of any origin.
For example, in graded motor imagery, apps show you images of arms/legs/etc. in contorted (twisted) positions and at various angles in the picture, and based on the positions of the fingers/toes/etc. you are supposed to identify if the arm/leg/etc. is a “left arm” or “right arm” or “left leg” or “right leg” [3][4].
I have tried graded motor imagery (via apps) and I have excellent spatial skills: it is a quite difficult exercise.
There currently is no huge difference between electrode caps and implanted electrodes (there are multiple types) except that electrode caps are super dorky. The resolution (constant bitrate) is higher for some implanted electrodes, but not by a ton compared to an electrode cap. Generally, a ton of electrodes are not implanted, either.
So, everyone drooling about Neuralink really has no idea what they are talking about here. They have a tremendously long way to go with Neuralink and Musk is making claims that may never even be technically possible.
Also, the (marriage) divorce rate of people getting these neural brain computer interface implants (that are regulatory approved already) is extremely high. People should think about this and other social matters, instead of getting all excited about concepts (not technology) such as Neuralink.
/You would probably need a very powerful desktop (or a laptop with a desktop processor, >$4,000) with the best imaginable specifications to pull this off. So, it is of extremely limited use for the disabled individual./
Not necessarily. They have an extremely small-dimensional input, and have a pretty straightforward problem. The fact that they can train a good model with just a few hundred sentences suggests that it's an easy problem...
For other context, I do neural speech generation on phones for my day job, using an RNN that makes 4000 inferences per second. It works fine on a single thread with most phones produced in the last few years. Another helpful point of context might be 'swipe'-style phone keyboards, which are often RNN based, and turn paths into words.
The focus on giant-model work I think hides how effective small models can be, and how much progress has been made on making models run faster in limited resource environments.
(Do you have a reference on the divorce rate? Not sure I understand the causal link there...)
My work in AI revolves around biophysical signals. I do not use AI generally in this case but I use a 19 channel EEG (using an EEG cap) for experiments in closed-loop controls. It requires a lot of RAM (ideally 32 GB if not more) to prevent latency.
Thanks for the article; it was a super interesting read. My takeaway was that poking brains can lead to major personality changes, which can lead to divorce and other bad outcomes. (Just hearing 'leads to divorce' made me wonder if it was due to previously non-communicative people expressing themselves in ways they couldn't before... but sounds more like a 'sometimes you get subtle kinds of brain damage' problem.)
With brain computer interfaces you use motor imagery [1], where you imagine motor movements (e.g. moving your left arm so that your palms face outward, and imagining the position of your shoulder, arm, and fingers) to control the BCI interface, such as in the case with prosthetics or this case handwriting. I imagine since this is fine motor movements (a different brain circuit, too) that it is much more difficult to visualize.
Motor imagery is also used in stroke rehabilitation. It is also used for sports performance.
Graded motor imagery [2] is a variant of motor imagery and there are apps for that. It basically rewires your brain’s pain circuits and makes pain more manageable and more controllable. It works for chronic pain, of any origin.
For example, in graded motor imagery, apps show you images of arms/legs/etc. in contorted (twisted) positions and at various angles in the picture, and based on the positions of the fingers/toes/etc. you are supposed to identify if the arm/leg/etc. is a “left arm” or “right arm” or “left leg” or “right leg” [3][4].
I have tried graded motor imagery (via apps) and I have excellent spatial skills: it is a quite difficult exercise.
There currently is no huge difference between electrode caps and implanted electrodes (there are multiple types) except that electrode caps are super dorky. The resolution (constant bitrate) is higher for some implanted electrodes, but not by a ton compared to an electrode cap. Generally, a ton of electrodes are not implanted, either.
So, everyone drooling about Neuralink really has no idea what they are talking about here. They have a tremendously long way to go with Neuralink and Musk is making claims that may never even be technically possible.
Also, the (marriage) divorce rate of people getting these neural brain computer interface implants (that are regulatory approved already) is extremely high. People should think about this and other social matters, instead of getting all excited about concepts (not technology) such as Neuralink.
[1] Motor Imagery: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/...
[2] Graded Motor Imagery: http://www.gradedmotorimagery.com/
[3] Graded Motor Imagery apps [iPhone and Android]: https://www.noigroup.com/product/recogniseapp/