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Some people worry that there’s too much technology in our lives.And they may have a point, given how countless people now carry the internet around in their pocket and use it as a primary form of communication. It’s practically difficult to shun technology in our world. There are computer microchips(微芯片) in our watches, our cars, light switches, even our pets! Where will it end?

Well, if certain people have their way, it’ ll go even further. We’ll have microchips implanted(植入) into our brains that can interact with the computers by thought alone. It may sound like something from the science fiction, but in many ways, things look quite promising. Thanks to the ability to send and receive information remotely via computers microchips and other related devices have long been put into brains.

For example, electrodes have been implanted in the brains of epilepsy patients to better record and even predict the abnormal neurological activity. Similarly, deep-brain stimulation, through implanted devices that cause activity in key brain regions, is an established treatment for things like Parkinson’s disease, and is even being looked into for illnesses like depression.

However,it’s another thing to place such devices in healthy individuals. There are the practical concerns,not least of which is what these chips will be made of. The inside of the brain is a mass of highly reactive chemicals and electrical activity. Implants would need to be inert(静止的) enough to not upset the delicate processes by their presence, but also sensitive enough to read and process the activity around them.Current technology has made impressive progress with this, but if it were to be rolled out to millions of people, we’d need to be 100 per cent certain that it’s safe.

How many people will actually want to have technology literally put into their brain? A surprising 60 per cent of Americans say they’d be okay with it, but that’s when it’s purely theoretical. In reality, the possibility of having strangers stick chips in your brain is likely to prove unattractive, especially for a population where millions get mad at fictional microchips in vaccines(疫苗), and even more are frightened of dentists.

Ultimately, the technology of computer-brain interface(接口) implants is still far away from us.