Paralyzed Walks Again with AI Medical Procedure

Mornin’ miners⛏️,

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Today’s Highlights:

• Paralyzed Walks Again with AI Medical Procedure 🚶‍♂️🧠

• Pulley, Equity Management Platform 🧑‍💼

• The Basics of DeFi & Web3 👩‍💻

40-year-old Gert-Jan Oskam Paralyzed from Spinal Cord Injury Walks Again with AI Medical Procedure

AI is a phenomenon first explored around the 1950s, the concept founded by John Von Neumann and Alan Turing in 1950 with John McCarty coining the term “Artificial Intelligence” in 1955. Since then, AI has been of widespread use, especially in our time when technology has greatly advanced.

Nowadays, we see AI used for little things like image generating, creating trip itineraries, meal plan recipes, and sometimes even papers or school assignments, as seen in that South Park ChatGPT episode (please don’t do this!).

AI’s influence extends to major hardware, such as drones, self-driving cars, and the Internet of Things (IoT). More critically, it plays a significant role in sectors like healthcare.

AI in Healthcare

AI has been used in healthcare since the 1970s and has continued to improve ever since. This improvement is shown through Gert-Jan Oskam’s case, a 40-year-old man who has been paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury since 2011 and started walking again with the help of AI.

This groundbreaking achievement is attributed to researchers at Lausanne University Hospital. In 2022, they inserted electronic implants in Oskam’s brain and spinal cord, creating a “digital bridge”.

The AI acts as a thought-decoder that processes what the neurons in Oskam’s brain want to do and sends them to his spine. Oskam’s movement intentions are decoded through the brain, and Oskam has said that when he thinks about moving, his body will follow through. 

This type of AI has, for the first time, performed a miraculous act. According to the researchers, this AI has been used in medicine for decades, but Oskam’s procedure was the first successful one of its kind. Oskam has said that ever since this procedure, even when the sensors are turned off, he is still able to walk with crutches.

This case is proof that AI is very much capable of revolutionizing healthcare and surgical procedures, shedding new light on what is to come. The researchers have said that their mission is to bring this technology widely available to other people.

A journal regarding this procedure was published just last week. You can read it here!

More Source(s):

• Good Morning America

PULLEY (Equity Management Platform)

When you’re starting a company, there are a lot of things to think about. You need to worry about product development, marketing, and sales. But one of the most important things you need to do is manage your equity.

Pulley is a lifesaver for startups when it comes to managing equity. It's got everything you need in one place - 409A valuations, cap table management, and even equity advice that's spot on.

Get these:

1. Fundraising: With Pulley, you can sail through your fundraising process like a pro. You can model your rounds, issue SAFEs, and collect wires all in one place. It's like having a secret weapon when it comes to winning over investors.

2. 409A Valuations and Compliance: Want a 409A valuation done in a jiffy? Pulley's got you covered. And it doesn't stop there - it even handles all those tedious compliance tasks, like 83b elections, form 3921, and stock-based comp reports. You can sit back and let Pulley do the heavy lifting.

3. Equity Issuance: Pulley doesn't care where your employees are. It helps you grant equity to them, no matter where they're located. Talk about fostering a global sense of ownership within your team.

4. Customer Support: If you ever feel lost in the world of equity, Pulley's customer support is there to help you out. They've got the best-rated customer support in the industry - they've literally got your back.

5. User-friendly Interface: Pulley's platform is so easy to use, you'll feel like a pro in no time. And the best part? You can save on those expensive lawyer fees for minor updates. If you can handle a spreadsheet, you're all set with Pulley.

6. Stakeholder Management: Pulley's got a little something for everyone - employees, investors, and even your HR & Legal departments. It helps your team get a clear picture of their vesting and ownership, keeps your investors updated, and makes reviewing and approving equity grants a breeze.

7. Ownership Structures: No matter what kind of ownership structure you're dealing with - Crypto & Tokens, Private Equity, or LLCs - Pulley can handle it. It can manage token distributions, handle tax withholdings, automate complex reports, and streamline ownership grants. It's got all your bases covered.

Now here's the cherry on top - Pulley offers a free plan for companies with up to 25 stakeholders. It's perfect for founders gearing up for a fundraiser. And trust me, it's catching on. Over 3000 startups are already using it, and it's the preferred choice for most of the Y Combinator batch. So why not give Pulley a try? You won't be disappointed.

Here’s the link!

The Basics of DeFI and Web3

The internet is a crucial part of our world now, and it is constantly evolving. The internet changes and holds so many things and can change and hold even more in tenfolds just as we are getting ready to go to work in the morning. Humans are evolving along and learning about the digital world, and yet it can still be plenty difficult to keep up.

Some of the many things that have been circling around on the internet nowadays surrounding the tech industry are DeFI and Web3. I’m sure people interested in the tech world have heard of these terms but may not know what they mean. What are DeFI and Web3, and are they important?

What Are They?

In a nutshell, DeFi and Web3 exist to create a democratized economic model and help people gain control over what they own. DeFI, also known as Decentralized Finance, gives everybody equal access to finance without having to involve the centralized system where banks or the government act as the central authority controlling the flow of money.

Web3 is the next generation of the internet that encompasses DeFi and other digital financial systems, aiming to create private and secure internet, giving users control and ownership over their data. To dig deep into Web3 and DeFi, we need to familiarise ourselves with what is known as a blockchain.

Blockchain Technology

Web3 runs on blockchain technology. Now, what is blockchain? Blockchain is a distributed database and a new method of record-keeping, storing information linked together in blocks via cryptography. Although mainly used to collect and keep data on transactions in cryptocurrency, acting as a sort of digital ledger, blockchain can also record data on product inventories, deeds, state identifications, votes in an election, and many more.

The use of blockchain technology enables Web3 to ensure that every process happens smoothly without human error since codes are used in the process of data-keeping. The data stored are mainly secure and tamper-proof, too, with the help of immutable cryptography. It is almost impossible to have your data altered or falsified.

DeFi also runs on blockchain software, one of them being Ethereum. DeFi apps, such as DAI, Avalanche, UniSwap, and many more, allow automation since users do not require financial intermediaries such as brokers and banks. How? Smart contracts (what??).

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are pieces of code that act as contracts without any need for a middleman. There would be no person or company that needs to hold or verify your information. Loans that could take a couple of days or more with big transaction fees and taxes can now be done with lower rates directly peer-to-peer. This simple process may also apply to every financial transaction each DeFi app provides. With smart contracts being essentially codes, again, you could worry less about human error, and trust is almost certainly ensured!

Autonomy, Transparency, and Efficiency

To recap, although Web3 and DeFi sort of work differently since they are two different systems, with one focusing on (financial) assets and one on data, they have a shared goal, which is autonomy for users. Both Web3 and DeFi are open, decentralized, and permissionless. There are no authority figures or centralized bodies users have to deal with, and they are open to everyone. 

This sort of autonomy, transparency, and freedom can be beneficial for business owners and professionals.

With Web3 and DeFI, the steps to earn a trusted source of capital that would usually take an enormous amount of time, with applications, background checks, and contracts are now cut short. Parties involved can also easily carry out transactions without any manual procedures.

All documents that usually take time to draft, review, and sign, especially with intermediaries such as banks that may postpone the process or add extra fees, can be securely and efficiently notarized with no human error.

There are a lot of different aspects to explore that would be wayyyy too long to discuss in one go. To learn more there is to know about Web3 and DeFi, you can check out Cointelegraph’s beginner’s guides.

If there are any visual learners amongst you miners, you can also learn about DeFi from Whiteboard Crypto’s YouTube video and see if these decentralized systems are right for you.

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