Miracle or menace? The rise of the brain chip

Man machine: artist Neil Harbisson is implanted with a chip that lets him hear colours. Will brain chips change your identity? Yesterday, a tech entrepreneur invested millions in neural implants. But scientists and philosophers are anxious about potential consequences. The patient lay motionless before the screen. Tentatively, he imagined the letter H. Less than a second later, it appeared on the screen. An E followed, then two Ls and an O, each showing up quicker than the last. After years of silence, he could finally communicate with the world. Last week, neuroscientists revealed a miraculous scientific breakthrough. A paralysed man had been taught to write with his mind. Assisted by a chip implanted in his premotor cortex, he managed to think whole sentences into existence at a rate of 90 letters per minute. This sounds like the stuff of science fiction. And it is: from William Gibson's classic novel Neuromancer to the brand new TV series Made for Love, brain implants have often captured our imagination. Real neuralRelating to the nerves. chips have been around since at least 1997, when the US Food and Drug Administration granted approval to a brain-stimulating device to combat Parkinson's Disease. The brain-computer interface market is growing by the month. In February, Elon Musk's company Neuralink used a chip to let a chimpanzee play a computer game. Yesterday, fellow tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel invested $10m in a rival company. An estimated 200,000 people worldwide now live with a neural implant. For some, the plants have become an integral part of their identity. The artist Neil Harbisson, who was born severely colourblind, uses a head-mounted antenna that transmits colours into sounds. In 2010 he co-founded the Cyborg Society, which aims to help others embrace cybernetics. There is plenty of evidence that brain chips can affect a person's personality. Take the story of Rita Leggett, who was implanted with a device that warned her of epileptic seizures. She believes the chip changed her personality, explaining in an interview: "we became one." For philosopher Frederic Gilbert, Leggett and her implants had fused into "a new person... an symbiosisDespite being rooted to the seabed, coral itself is in fact made up of animals. These animals secrete chemicals that form a rock-like structure, which provides a home for algae. The algae in turn help the coral by removing waste and producing food through photosynthesis. When species live together for mutual benefit in this way, it is called symbiosis. of machine and mind". Some see this as a cause for concern. Could the chips become more powerful than their hosts? One of Leggett's fellow patients claimed her implants gave her "no control". According to the ethicist S Matthew Liao, neuro-technologies could "radically change our sense of where we come from, what we do and, importantly, who we are". Further questions were raised by a 2013 MITMassachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA, is one of the most most prestigious universities in the world.  experiment that saw false memories successfully inserted into mice. Memories help form our identity. If they are replaced by fakes, would our identity change as well? And if chips can control what we remember, could they learn to control our minds? Others believe we should not be too alarmed. Neurologist Judy Illes says: "I don't believe these interventions change who a person is, who they fundamentally perceive themselves to be." Besides, the vast majority of implants are developed for medical purposes. Leggett's chip gave her control over a life-ruining illness. Perhaps it was this new ability, rather than the chip itself, that really changed her life. Could brain chips change your identity? No brainer Undoubtedly, say some. Our identity is always in flux. It is subtly shaped by the things we experience: our cultural heritage, our tastes and interests, our conversations with friends. Even if neural implants are not a sinister mind-control scheme, it is inevitable that they will cause some degree of change in how we perceive ourselves. After all, almost everything does. Of course not, say others. While our identity develops through our lives, it retains an unchanging core. We go through numerous shifts - of age, relationships, hobbies - but our unique selfhood stays the same. Brain chips might cause some similar minor readjustments, or trigger long-term changes in our health or capabilities. But they do not change who we really are. KeywordsNeural - Relating to the nerves.