elon musk, the multi-billionaire entrepreneur and co-founder of neuralink, has said that human language may become obsolete in ‘5 to 10 years’. musk made the comments in an interview with american comedian and podcaster, joe rogan. in a 25 minute long conversation, which you can watch above, musk revealed more details about the neuralink brain implant device, which is being developed principally to help people with paralysis. 

 

 

when discussing the possibility of a universal language, musk stated, ‘I think you would, in principle, you would be able to communicate very quickly and with far more precision… language, I’m not sure what would happen to language but in a situation like this though, it’d be kind of like the matrix. you want to speak a different language, no problem. just download the program.’

 

 

musk emphasized that the first few neuralink iterations will be focused on trying to solve brain injuries. ‘it’s not going to sneak up on you, this will take a while’,  said musk about the possibility of communicating through the mind. however, when asked how many years it would be before you wouldn’t have to speak, musk stated, ‘if the development continues to accelerate, then maybe 5 to 10 years.’

 

 

see designboom’s previous coverage of the neuralink brain chip here, where a monkey plays ping pong with its mind.