San Francisco (AFP)

A team of US researchers funded by Facebook has managed to translate into words the activity of the brain, via algorithms, a step closer to the ambition shared by other companies, such as Elon Musk's, to create a link between the human brain and the machines.

Scientists at California University UCSF published this week a study showing their progress in creating a brain-computer interface: the activity of neurons is transmitted to the machine through implants, and decoded by algorithms, in a specific context (a limited choice of questions and answers).

Ultimately, the ambition would be to use a less restrictive method than implants, such as a pair of augmented reality glasses, equipped with sensors and controlled by thought.

"In the next ten years, the ability to type directly from our brain may be considered normal," said Facebook Tuesday in an online article on the project launched two years ago. "Not so long ago it was science fiction, and now that prospect seems to be achievable."

Elon Musk, the fantastic boss of Tesla and Space X, struck the mind ten days ago claiming that his start-up Neuralink had achieved an experiment in which a monkey controlled a computer directly from his brain.

The company is expected to begin testing on humans as early as 2020, in order to fight certain diseases affecting the brain or spinal cord.

A health goal that also guides the UCSF team's research: to make people speechless because of paralysis, spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases.

"At this stage, paralyzed patients with speech loss can only use eye movement or muscle contraction technologies to spell words very slowly on a screen," says Eddie Chang, a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto. California University.

"However, in many cases, the ability to express themselves is always present in their brains, we just need the technology to allow them to use it fluently."

- Symbiosis -

The study published in the journal Nature Communications details how the scientists managed to train the machine to translate the signals received through the implants, while the volunteers spoke aloud. The artificial intelligence system was guided by a context of multiple choice questions posed to people.

The "Steno project" is studying the possibility of making a connected accessory to tap on a screen simply by imagining talking in his head. It is funded by a technology giant (Facebook Reality Labs) lab doing research on augmented and virtual reality technologies.

"Our progress shows what might one day be like interacting with smart glasses," tweeted Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook's consumer equipment division.

The researchers hope to design an interface capable of decoding 100 words per minute in real time, with a vocabulary of 1,000 words and an error rate of less than 17%, according to Facebook.

For its part, Neuralink has unveiled a chip with ultra-thin threads that can be implanted in the brain by a robot, which looks like a kind of ultra-precise sewing machine.

"The goal is to create a total interface between the brain and the machine (...) Arrive at a symbiosis with artificial intelligence," said Elon Musk, who also aims to save humanity by colonizing Mars.

However, many neurology experts have expressed doubts about the real possibilities of these technologies, even in the medium term, given how we mobilize multiple parts of the brain, even for simple tasks.

This intimate relationship of which Elon Musk speaks is "rather a vision of a very distant future," said Andrew Hires, assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Southern California, interviewed by AFP. "It is not certain that we will arrive one day at this stage".

© 2019 AFP