with 85% of the promised functionality no longer functional
To be fair 85% of threads retracting doesn’t seem to translate to an equal amount of functional loss. The article mentions
Neuralink was quick to note that it was able to adjust the algorithm used for decoding those neuronal signals to compensate for the lost electrode data. The adjustments were effective enough to regain and then exceed performance on at least one metric—the bits-per-second (BPS) rate used to measure how quickly and accurately a patient with an implant can control a computer cursor.
I think it will be impossible for us to asses how much it actually impacts function in real world use case.
It seems clear that this is a case of learning by trial and error, which considering the stakes doesn’t seem like the right approach.
The question that this article doesn’t answer is, whether they have learned anything at all or if they are just proceeding to do the same thing again. And if they have learned something, is there something preventing it to be applied to the first patient.
Seriously. My father was part of a Deep Brain Stimulation trial. Their follow up was for ten years, just for the trial. The implant itself lasted his entire life, which I’m not feeling like doing the math. Five, six years after that?
To be fair 85% of threads retracting doesn’t seem to translate to an equal amount of functional loss. The article mentions
I think it will be impossible for us to asses how much it actually impacts function in real world use case.
It seems clear that this is a case of learning by trial and error, which considering the stakes doesn’t seem like the right approach.
The question that this article doesn’t answer is, whether they have learned anything at all or if they are just proceeding to do the same thing again. And if they have learned something, is there something preventing it to be applied to the first patient.
That’s part of what makes me see this as a really bad look.
“Install it deeper” isn’t rocket science, and it sounds like their first volunteer is willing.
They just want the extra data from leaving their first volunteer where they landed.
Human subject experiments are supposed to carry more long term obligation than this.
Seriously. My father was part of a Deep Brain Stimulation trial. Their follow up was for ten years, just for the trial. The implant itself lasted his entire life, which I’m not feeling like doing the math. Five, six years after that?