I love TV series. Well, not all of them, but there are some that have really drawn me in. When that happens, I wait for the next episode to come out with childlike anticipation, and in the evening my wife and I watch the latest episode together. That’s exactly the case with the third series of *The Silo* at the moment – although I did cheat a bit here, as I couldn’t wait for the new series, so I read the book instead.

Fortunately, the TV adaptation hasn’t stuck strictly to the author’s original text this time either, so the series has remained interesting. But that’s how it was (I’m looking forward to the new series): the Pluribus, Star City, The Capture, Fallout, MobLand, or, going back a bit further, the Foundation, Jack Ryan, Chernobyl, Person of Interest, Dark, Whiskey on the Rocks or even Westworld (the list isn’t exhaustive, of course; just the ones that sprang to mind).

Every series has moments that have stuck with me. These may not necessarily coincide with what were intended to be the dramatic low or high points; they’re just things that grabbed my attention. One such moment was in that episode (S2E10) when the protagonist, Dolores, arrives at the virtual library, the ‘Forge’, where the books lining the shelves are not conventional reading material, but digitised, algorithmic descriptions (codes) of the minds and behaviour of every human guest who has ever visited Westworld. It turns out that, for most people, these books are rather thin.

The following dialogue takes place in connection with one of the people (Delos):

I found myself spontaneously wondering just how thick this ‘algorithm’ book might be for each person I know; I shan’t set out my conclusions on the matter here (better to keep the peace), but I definitely recommend this thought experiment to you, my reader; it’s good fun.

How far does this thought experiment by the series’ writers stray from reality? Well, not that far.

Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk and which is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI – Brain-Computer Interface). This device creates a direct, two-way digital connection between the human brain and computers. (I’ve written about this development before here on this blog neuralink.)

The implant itself (N1 chip) is a wireless device barely the size of a coin, which is surgically implanted into the skull. It is completely invisible from the outside. Sixty-four ultra-thin, flexible filaments branch out from the chip, containing a total of 1,024 electrodes. These filaments are inserted directly into the motor cortex of the brain.

As the filaments are thinner than human hair, the implantation is carried out by a specialised, pinpoint-accurate medical robot, the R1, which functions like a microscopic sewing machine. The chip reads the electrical impulses of the brain cells (neurons) in real time and then transmits them via Bluetooth to an external device (such as a smartphone or PC).

The primary aim of the project is to restore independence to patients with spinal cord injuries who are quadriplegic (paralysed in all four limbs). During clinical trials, paralysed patients are able to move a mouse cursor, play video games (such as chess) or type text using only the power of their thoughts.

Separate experiments are underway to convert the thoughts of patients unable to speak (such as those suffering from ALS) directly into speech, whilst in the future the technology is expected to help blind people by providing artificial vision (BlindSight project).

The sole patient in the 2024 trial (Noland Arbaugh), official Neuralink data now show that at least 26 participants worldwide have received the implant in the US, Canada and the UK. The pace of clinical trials has accelerated to several implants per month since the end of 2025.

Neuralink’s Clinical Trials programme is now divided into three distinct phases of medical research:

• Telepathy (Active): Decoding brain signals from patients with motor paralysis (quadriplegia, ALS), enabling them to control computers, phones, robotic arms and video games directly with their thoughts.
• VOICE (New, active): The latest speech restoration trial programme. Signals from the areas of the brain responsible for speech are converted into digital words in real time for patients who have completely lost their ability to speak due to a stroke or ALS. The aim is to achieve a natural speech rate of 140 words per minute.
• Blindsight (In development): A project aimed at fully restoring vision. It promises visual perception even for blind patients whose eyes or optic nerves have been completely destroyed, as the signals are transmitted directly to the visual cortex.

The problem encountered with the first patient (electrode retraction, where some of the hair-thin electrode filaments shifted within the brain tissue) has been completely eliminated through mechanical modifications and deeper implantation. No serious side effects related to the device have been observed in the most recent implantations.

To increase input signal density, Neuralink has begun increasing the number of electrodes from 1,000 to 3,000, enabling much finer and more complex control.

The latest version of the specialised robot used for implantation (R1 Rev. 10) is now capable of threading the wires through the dura mater without having to remove it completely. This radically reduces operating time and the risk of infection.

One of the most exciting results of the clinical trials is the dramatic increase in what is known as the bit rate (bandwidth). The most skilled paralysed Neuralink patients are now able to control a mouse with their thoughts at a data transfer rate of over 10 bits per second. The testers have their own ‘BCI arcade’ (BCI arcade), and claim that, with the help of the brain chip, they achieve faster reaction times and better results in certain computer games than able-bodied people using a mouse and keyboard.

According to Neuralink’s official website, the long-term goal is to augment human cognitive abilities and to establish a direct, symbiotic connection between the human mind and artificial intelligence.

The three phases of the long-term goals

• The humanitarian and medical phase (The present and the near future): The complete cure of blindness, paralysis, deafness, loss of speech caused by stroke, as well as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, through the correction of electrical signals in the brain.
• Cognitive augmentation (The medium-term goal): The artificial enhancement of memory, processing speed and focus in healthy people. The aim is the direct, digital transmission of thoughts into another person’s brain (pure telepathy without words), as well as the direct sharing or recording of visual and auditory experiences.
• Symbiosis with artificial intelligence (The ultimate goal): Musk’s openly stated aim is to increase the bandwidth (data transfer rate) of the human brain to a level that makes humans competitive with super-intelligent AI. Connecting human consciousness to cloud-based computing.

In the series — and not just there — humans believe themselves to be complex, unpredictable beings with free will. Machines, however, realise that humans are in fact merely simple algorithms that repeat the same patterns (desires, traumas, survival instincts) over and over again.

When Neuralink’s electrodes detect the electrical discharges (action potential) in the cerebral cortex, artificial intelligence (AI) begins to decode precisely these patterns. When a paralysed patient thinks about moving their hand, what erupts in their brain is not a chaotic, unique storm, but a well-defined electrical pattern that repeats with mathematical precision. According to the company’s engineers, the language of the brain is far more codable than we previously believed.

Elon Musk has stated on several occasions that one of Neuralink’s ultimate goals is the “backing up” and ‘downloading’ (concept of backing up data). In Westworld, this human consciousness is stored on a small, round, pearl-like data storage device (known as the Control Unit or Pearl), which could then be inserted into an artificial android body.

To save a person in this way, we would need to copy every synapse (connection point) in their brain. This human ‘connectome’ (connectome). Although the physical structure of our brain is incredibly complex, the AI algorithms used by Neuralink may (eventually) be capable of compressing this information. Just as in the series, they strip away the unnecessary background noise and save only the decision-making logic, the memories and the core of the personality, which could indeed fit into a ‘thin book’.

I’d like to quote another defining literary experience of mine here: *Neuromancer*.

This is the ’84 William Gibson that I could (and do) re-read as many times as I like. In 1984, the author predicted the internet, viruses (‘ice’), hackers (‘console cowboys’) and, in fact, Neuralink (‘microsoft’).

In the book, there are chips (‘microsofts’) that can be inserted into a physical socket (bio-connector) to download instant language skills, lexical data or combat skills into the brain (yes, we can definitely draw parallels with *The Matrix* here). Elon Musk’s long-term goal with Neuralink is also to enable us not only to read data from the brain, but also to upload information (e.g. memories or even a foreign language).

When the book’s protagonist, Case, ‘logs in’ to the network (jacking in), his physical body becomes completely paralysed, whilst his consciousness transforms digital data into spatial perception. Neuralink’s first patients have also reported a similar experience: they do not press buttons, but “using their minds” to move the cursor across the screen.

In the novel, the hackers (console cowboys) do not control systems using a keyboard or mouse. The electrical impulses from their brains communicate directly with the computer. This corresponds exactly to the operating principle of Neuralink (BCI).

Incidentally, Elon Musk is a well-known sci-fi fan, and, according to his own account, he used to read for up to 10 hours a day as a child to cope with his loneliness. Although his greatest and most frequently mentioned favourite is Isaac Asimov’s *Foundation*series, several interviews and biographical material reveal that William Gibson’s ’s seminal work, *Neuromancer*, as well as Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fundamentally reshaped his thinking on artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.

Analysts and biographers often point out that Musk not only read these cyberpunk and sci-fi classics, but also treated them as concrete business and development blueprints (blueprints) to found companies such as Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink.

Musk has often referred to another major cyberpunk work, Deus Ex (whose world, featuring brain-implanted chips and body hacks, draws directly on the legacy of Neuromancer).

Pop culture analysts often note the irony that whilst *Neuromancer* and the cyberpunk genre are essentially a dark dystopia warning of the dangers of unscrupulous corporate giants and tech billionaires, Musk, inspired by this very world, is attempting to bring these technologies to life.

William Gibson wrote the bible of cyberculture, *Neuromancer*, more than 40 years ago. In this dark vision of the future, ‘console cowboys’ connected directly to the network via physical cables – so-called brain adaptors – to navigate the neon-lit data structures of the Matrix with their minds.

Forty years later, Neuralink’s engineers have proven that Gibson’s fundamental vision is technically flawless. The only difference is that, contrary to the logic of the 1980s, reality is much more sterile: there is no need for bloody sockets behind our ears. Neuralink’s latest implants fit seamlessly into the skull; the skin grows over them, and data is transmitted wirelessly via induction to the computer tucked away in our pockets.

When the first patients play online chess or action games using nothing but their thoughts, they are, in fact, already riding the waves of cyberspace. Although the bandwidth is still very limited (barely 10 bits per second), the direction of the technology is clear: we are on the path towards a two-way data stream, where the network will not only read our minds but, following the logic of *Blindsight*, will also be able to project data (images, virtual spaces) directly into our neurons.

Whilst *Neuromancer* told of hackers connected to the network, *Westworld* shed light on a far darker truth: human consciousness is not an incomprehensible divine miracle, but a surprisingly simple algorithm that could be described in a slim volume.

When Elon Musk talks about downloading memories and backing up consciousness with Neuralink, he is paving the way for precisely this Westworld-style reality. If our brains are merely a series of electrical codes, then in the future our personalities will be exportable at the touch of a button. The question is, if we are stripped down to a slim code book, what will remain of us that we can still call human?

Scientists estimate the raw storage capacity of the entire human brain to be roughly 350,000 gigabytes (i.e. ~345 terabytes), but the pure ‘personality and behavioural code’ itself, according to the logic of Westworld, could fit into as little as a few megabytes or gigabytes.

If we were to copy the entire human brain atom by atom, including all memories, sensations and visual data, the neurobiological calculation would be as follows:

There are roughly 86 billion neurons in our brains. On average, each neuron is connected to the others via 7,000 synapses (connection points). According to research by the Salk Institute, a single synapse can store approximately 4.7 bits of information based on its electrical state. Mathematically, this amounts to roughly 353,675 gigabytes of data. This seems like an enormous amount, but in reality, it would fit onto a few dozen modern hard drives available in shops.

The brilliant premise of *Westworld* is precisely that the machines realise: to archive a personality, there’s no need to back up the entire 350,000 GB of hardware. This is because 99 per cent of our brain’s capacity is devoted to biological survival (regulating the heartbeat, real-time processing of visual input, reflexes, and maintaining balance). If we consider only the pure core of the personality (the behavioural algorithm, the linguistic vocabulary and key memories), the file size is drastically reduced:

• Vocabulary and linguistic logic: The average person’s active vocabulary consists of 20,000–30,000 words. A linguistic model of this size, when written out in text form, is barely 0.002 GB (2 megabytes).
• Life story (episodic memory): If the most important events, traumas, loves and memories of your life were stored not as 4K videos, but as compressed ‘data points’ (as in a diary), this would amount to several thousand pages of text. This, too, is merely a few tens of megabytes.
• The decision tree (the behavioural code): How do you react when you’re frightened? What do you choose when offered something? Human decision-making mechanisms can be described by a logical code (if X happens, then I do Y).

If a person were stripped of their flesh-and-blood body, their optic nerves and their biological functions, their pure personality – their decisions, their flaws, their character – would in fact fit comfortably onto a simple USB stick, or even within a single smartphone app (1–5 GB).

This is precisely the irony that *Westworld* alluded to: we believe ourselves to be infinitely complex beings, but from a digital perspective, our personality is not a complex operating system, but merely a short, pocket-sized code book.

If someone speaks several languages, thinks in complex abstract concepts, or possesses in-depth specialist knowledge, their ‘code book’ will indeed be thicker and larger in terms of bytes – but even so, it can be compressed with astonishing efficiency.

When, for example, someone learns a new language, they do not simply copy a dictionary into their head. The multilingual (multilingual) people, many more connections – known as semantic nodes – are formed between concepts.

If you only know the Hungarian word for ‘love’, that is the only data point. If you know the English word (love) and German (Liebe), or Spanish (amor) or Ancient Greek (where there are separate words for physical, friendly and selfless love: eros, philia, agape), the conceptual framework becomes much more nuanced. In digital terms, this means that the vector space describing your personality (embedding) describing your personality increases; in other words, more variables and more relationships must be entered into the code book.

If you are able to think in terms of abstract mathematical models, understand quantum mechanics, or grasp global economic processes, it is as if you were installing a host of complex plug-ins and sub-programmes onto the core programme of your personality.

Although the bulkier book seems logical, neuroscience and computer science throw in a twist: complex thinking often means less data, because it is better compressed. A novice chess player tries to memorise the position of every piece individually (which is a huge amount of data/bytes).

A grandmaster, on the other hand, does not see pieces, but rather ‘patterns’ and ‘strategies’. A single complex concept (such as the Sicilian Defence) can trigger hundreds of data points in their mind.

The irony of *Westworld* can therefore be nuanced: the code book of the human soul is indeed thin, but the number of pages depends on us. If someone speaks several languages, understands complex interrelationships and is constantly learning, their digital footprint – their personality – will be a far more multidimensional, substantial volume than that of the masses who live by predefined schemas.

The real question facing Neuralink and the technology of the future is not whether we can download a human onto a USB stick, but whether the downloaded file will be a complex, marvellous algorithm or just a boring spam script consisting of a few lines of code.

I know this post has turned out to be rather rambling, but I feel it might be worth ‘colouring in’ the current developments and events against the backdrop of pop culture “colour”.

I’m genuinely interested in your opinion on this, so please take a few minutes to share your thoughts in the comments on Facebook, or simply send me an email (sandor.vamos@web.de).

I also used Gemini AI to help write this post.

• Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy (Creators). (2018). Westworld – Season 2, Episode 10: “The Passenger”. HBO Entertainment. [The first appearance and concept of The Forge’s virtual library and the 10,247-line algorithm of human consciousness].
• Neuralink Corp. (2024–2026). Neuralink Clinical Trials: Telepathy, VOICE and Blindsight Programmes. Neuralink Official Launch Specifications. Available at: neuralink.com [Official data on the N1 implant, the R1 robot and active human clinical trial phases].
• William Gibson. (1984). *Neuromancer*. Ace Books. [The seminal work of cyberpunk, the source of the term ‘console cowboy’, the Matrix network and Microsoft chips that can be implanted in the brain].
• Walter Isaacson. (2023). Elon Musk. Simon & Schuster. [A detailed biographical account of Musk’s childhood reading habits, his passion for science fiction, and the influence of the works of Asimov, Adams and Gibson on his thinking].
• Bartol, T. M., Bromer, C., Kinney, J., et al. (2015). Nanopunya Anatomy reveals high information storage capacity in individual synapses. eLife, 4, e10778. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. [Research by the Salk Institute which demonstrated that, based on synaptic dimensions, a single synapse carries an average of ~4.7 bits of information].
• Azevedo, F. A., Carvalho, L. R., Grinberg, L. T., et al. (2009). Equal numbers of neuronal and non-neuronal cells make the human brain an isometrically scaled-up primate brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 513(5), 532–541. [A seminal work scientifically establishing the number of neurons in the human brain as ~86 billion].
• Dr Eric R. Kandel. (2012). Principles of Neural Science (5th Edition). McGraw-Hill Medical. [A standard medical description of the density of synaptic connections between neurons and patterns of neural signalling (action potentials)].
• Elon Musk. (2020). Neuralink Progress Update, 28 August 2020. Live tech demonstration and press conference. [Musk’s statement on the future backup/download of consciousness and memories – ‘the concept of backing up data’].
• Neuralink Patient Update. (2024). The Story of Noland Arbaugh: The First Human Experience with a BCI. Neuralink Blog. [The first human patient’s experiences of controlling chess and video games via thought].
• A. M. Turing. (1950). Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Mind, 59(236), 433–460. [The theoretical foundations of the algorithmic nature of human behaviour, decision trees and the operational logic of linguistic models].

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