马斯克：把人脑和电脑连接起来的技术不远了！

如果有一天，你的想法可以通过电脑来阅读，你的记忆可以通过电脑来上传和下载，你愿意接入这样的脑机交互系统吗？

或许，你觉得这是好莱坞电影里才会有的情节。但是，埃隆-马斯克最近表示，这项技术离我们不远了。

Elon Musk has revealed his Neuralink startup is close to announcing the first brain-machine interface to connect humans and computers.

埃隆-马斯克近日表示，其创业公司“神经连接”即将公布首个人机交互界面，该界面可将人脑和计算机连接起来。

The entrepreneur took to Twitter to tell followers the technology would be “coming soon” – though he failed to provide details.

马斯克在推特上告诉粉丝说，这项技术“即将实现”，但他没有透露细节。

Neuralink was set up in 2016 with the ambitious goal of developing hardware to enhance the human brain, however, little about how this will work has been made public.

神经连接公司在2016年成立，其庞大的目标是开发计算机硬件增强人脑功能，但具体实现方式鲜少对公众透露。

The startup’s website, which is advertising vacancies for 11 different jobs, describes the futuristic technology as an “ultra-high bandwidth” connection between the human brain and computers.

公司网站正招聘11个不同工种的空缺职位，并将这项未来科技描述为人脑与计算机之间的“超高带宽”。

futuristic [fjuːtʃə'rɪstɪk]：adj.未来派的；未来主义的

Mr Musk has frequently claimed the rapid rise of artificial intelligence poses an existential risk to humanity. Such an interface, he says, is essential if humans are to compete with such technology in the future.

马斯克已屡次重申，人工智能的飞速发展威胁到了人类的生存。他说，如果人类将来会与智能科技竞争，这样的脑机交互非常重要。

existential [,egzɪ'stenʃ(ə)l]：adj.存在主义的；有关存在的

At a technology conference in 2016, Mr Musk said humans risked being treated like house pets by AI machines if a brain-computer interface was not built.

马斯克曾在2016年的一次科技会议上说，如果不建立脑机交互系统，将来人工智能机器就会像对待家养宠物一样对待人类。

“I don’t love the idea of being a house cat, but what’s the solution?” he said. “I think one of the solutions that seems maybe the best is to add an AI layer.”

他说：“我不想成为家养宠物，那该怎么解决这个问题呢？我觉得似乎最好的办法就是在人脑增加一个人工智能分层。”

Speaking last year on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Mr Musk said Neuralink’s technology would allow humans to “effectively merge with AI”.

马斯克去年在《乔·罗根的经历》播客上说，神经连接公司的技术将使人类“有效地与人工智能融合在一起”。

A paper published in Nature Nanotechnology in 2015 described a concept for this connection, explaining how a flexible circuit could be injected into a living brain.

2015年发表在《自然纳米技术》上的一篇研究论文描述了脑机连接的概念，解释了柔性电路可以如何被注入活人的大脑。

“We’re trying to blur the distinction between electronic circuits and neural circuits,” said Harvard researcher Charles Lieber, who co-authored the study.

研究报告的合著者、哈佛大学研究员查理斯-利伯说：“我们正试着模糊电子线路和神经回路之间的区别。”

“We have to walk before we can run, but we think we can really revolutionize our ability to interface with the brain.”

“在跑之前我们要先学会走，但我们认为我们将彻底革新脑机交互的能力。”

Despite the technology’s potential to augment the human brain, experts have warned that brain-computer interfaces risk being hijacked by rogue artificial intelligence.

这项技术除了有可能增强人脑以外，专家还提醒说，脑机交互还可能被凶猛的人工智能劫持。

augment [ɔːg'ment]：vt.增加；增大

Such a scenario could lead to AI controlling the thoughts, decisions and emotions of a person using a brain-computer link.

一旦被劫持，将导致人工智能可以通过脑机连接控制人的思维、决定和感情。

“Technological developments mean that we are on a path to a world in which it will be possible to decode people’s mental processes and directly manipulate the brain mechanisms underlying their intentions, emotions and decision,” stated a Nature comment piece written by 27 neuroscientists, ethicists and machine intelligence engineers.

27位神经系统学家、伦理学家和机器智能工程师发表在《自然》上的一篇评论写道：“技术的发展意味着，在将来，人们可能会解码人的心路历程，并直接操纵大脑机制，从而了解他们的目的、情感和决定。”

“The possible clinical and societal benefits of neurotechnologies are vast. To reap them, we must guide their development in a way that respects, protects and enables what is best in humanity.”

“神经科技可能产生的临床和社会影响非常之大。为从中受益，我们必须以尊重和保护的方式指导其发展，使人类从中获益最多。”