US-based brain-computer interface (BCI) company Synchron, has announced the integration of generative AI into its brain implant interface system allowing people living with a disability that causes them to be non-verbal to generate text on a screen faster and easier than before.

Powered using OpenAI’s multimodal generative pre-training transformer (GPT), Synchron says that the BCI chat feature can now allow users to generate automated prompts for texting and chatting, categorised by contextual inputs, including the user’s emotions.

Designed to help people living with conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the Synchron BCI is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface of the motor cortex of the brain through what the company describes as a minimally invasive procedure. The radio device then transmits signals from the brain into a wireless signal picked up by a desktop device.

Using OpenAI’s GPT system, Synchron claims the system can generate text or audio based on the user’s desired input at the speed of normal human conversation.

Additionally, the company adds that input users generate will not be directly shared or stored with OpenAI.

Synchron CEO and founder Tom Oxley said: “Our users have lost the ability to make choices due to neurological disorders. Generative AI can offer predictions that are contextual to your environment, and the BCI enables individual choices to be made.

“BCIs preserve and extend a fundamental human right: the freedom of expression. We take our autonomy for granted until it is gone. This is a pivotal moment at the convergence of powerful technologies that can restore lives.”

BCI and neuromodulation technologies are rapidly evolving. A model by GlobalData estimates that the global neuromodulation device market will be worth $11.4bn by 2033, up from $6bn in 2022. The announcement follows after Synchron was able to acquire an equity stake in high-precision equipment provider, Acquandas, for an undisclosed amount in February of this year.

Elsewhere in the field of brain-computer interfaces, US-based Neuralink reported an unexpected setback with its first chip implanted in a human skull, as the device began detaching from the patient’s brain.