Lauren Woode: Yes, I think it’s going to be really good.
Michael Calore: Yes.
Lauren Woode: And that also means that Katie still has time to run Wired, which is another thing she does.
Michael Calore: I thought you were going to say run 9 miles a day.
Lauren Woode: That too. She also runs, runs, runs. But yes, no, here we are, just me and you in the San Francisco office dealing with the mist. It is very foggy this time of year. People don’t think that if they think of California, but do. And is it just me and you?
Michael Calore: No, we have a guest. We have Emily Mullen on the program.
Lauren Woode: You are joking.
Michael Calore: No, we’re going to put her on in a minute.
Lauren Woode: Let’s do it.
Michael Calore: This is wired’s Ominous valleyA show about the people, power and influence of Silicon Valley. Today we are talking about brain-computer interfaces. They are also known as brain machine interfaces or just BCIs. But whatever you call it, it is quite incredible systems that make direct communication between the brain and a digital device such as a computer or a phone. People who have a BCI surgically implanted can use their minds as commands to have machines perform different tasks. There is currently a race in Silicon Valley to build a model that will stand out from the rest. And among the forerunners is Elon Musk’s Neuralink and a new beginning of New York called Synchron. We are about why the competition is warming up between these two businesses, and what the promises and limitations are behind this futuristic technology. I am Michael Calore, director of consumer technology and culture here at Wired.
Lauren Woode: I’m Lauren Woode. I am a senior correspondent at Wired.
Michael Calore: Today we were positively spoiled to have a guest on the show that reported on brain-computer interfaces on brain-computer interfaces. Wired’s Emily Mullin.
Emily Mullin: Hello.
Lauren Woode: Emily, do you have another brain implant?
Emily Mullin: No, I don’t.
Lauren Woode: Well, how committed are you the bit?
Emily Mullin: I don’t want a brain implant. No, thank you.
Michael Calore: Before we dive into BCIS, I would like to know the first thing that comes to me when you think of brain machine interactions, Lauren? I mean, for example, I think of SealThe original 1987 by Paul Verhoeven, where it is just the Robocop, it is just his head and his torso, and then his limbs and all his running and running through a computer that is implanted in his brain.
Lauren Woode: I have never seen Seal.
Michael Calore: Oh, that’s such a good movie.
Lauren Woode: So cannot comment on it. What I think of, what I think of? Well, this is a very exciting reaction, but I think of all these promises made around AI and health care and wonder if AI finally the kind of connective tissue is between all that makes it viable. I would never want one of these things because it feels like a need-based technology, not something, you just have to drill a hole in your brain and for the pleasure. But if you get to the point where you need it, the technology is hopefully in place to help you live aspects of your life that you would otherwise not be able to live.