Casey Harrell, who has ALS and is paralyzed, has had electrodes embedded in his brain for almost three years and first used his brain-computer interface to “speak” in 2023. Since then, he has logged thousands of hours with the system, using it largely independently to communicate, browse the web and perform his job.
The team behind the device describes Harrell as “the first power user of a speech BCI” and is planning more enhancements. Harrell framed the technology as a way to preserve ambition while living with ALS, saying diminished dreams should not be assumed for people with the disease.
South Korea’s unusually positive view of AI contrasts with growing skepticism in the US. Only 16% say they are more concerned than excited about AI, the lowest share among the 25 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center, while 50% of Americans were more worried than excited. The country’s outlook is tied to a broad belief that adopting technology is essential to modernization and global influence.
Other technology developments include US restrictions on Anthropic AI over foreign intelligence risks, Alibaba’s release of AI models for robots, EA’s push to place advertising directly into gameplay, reports that Reddit can be used to manipulate AI search, and new concerns over deepfake detection and Meta’s AI reorganization.
