Brad Smith, the third Neuralink patient to receive a brain implant earlier this year, can now communicate using AI and computer technology despite being completely paralyzed and speechless due to non-verbal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Image source: Neuralink
Neuralink announced in a blog post in January that three people had already received brain implants, including Brad. “All three are unable to move their arms or legs — Noland and Alex due to spinal cord injury, and Brad due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),” the post said. “Each volunteered to participate in Neuralink’s PRIME study, a clinical trial designed to demonstrate the safety and usefulness of the Link in the daily lives of people living with paralysis.”
Smith can’t speak or move any part of his body except the corners of his mouth and eyes. “I can’t move anything except my eyes, and I’m completely dependent on a ventilator to keep me alive and breathing,” he said in a video posted on the X platform.
Smith said he relies on the Neuralink implant for all communication, noting that he created this video using a brain-computer interface (BCI) to control the mouse on his MacBook Pro. With his help, the Neuralink team created a chat app that uses AI to listen to the conversation and generate response suggestions.
«The app uses Grok 3 and an AI clone of my old voice to generate suggestions,” Smith says. “A friend of mine asked me to come up with gift ideas for his horse-loving girlfriend. I picked an idea and the AI suggested, using my voice, that she get a bouquet of carrots,” he says. “We’re also working on a faster way to type using the cursor.”
In conclusion, Smith said his experience with Neuralink was “fantastic” because it improved his life. “Life is good,” Brad Smith said.