Computing advances could soon profoundly change lives by restoring speech and eventually other functions.
Two new studies published simultaneously in the journal Nature document a leap forward in the race to teach computers to translate brain signals into text. It’s an exciting development in a field that is attracting millions in investment, including to Elon Musk’s brain-implant company, Neuralink.
In the Nature studies, two teams, one led by researchers from Stanford University and the other led by University of California San Francisco, used different types of implants to collect electronic signals from the brains of volunteers and different algorithms to interpret them. The results, though, were similar: Attempts at speech could be converted to text at a rate of 60-70 words per minute.
Although each team reported results from just one volunteer, other researchers in the field say it’s enough to be confident that brain-computer interfaces are nearing a point where they could be truly useful to people unable to speak. An accompanying editorial by two other brain-machine experts called the developments “a turning point in the development of BCI technology that aims to restore communication for people with severe paralysis.
Where Musk has helped is by stimulating interest and investment in the field. That should help get the hardware to a point that regulators feel comfortable with its long-term safety.
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