Technology has enabled a paralyzed man to communicate on a computer screen almost as fast as texting on a smartphone, according to the Science Focus website.

A Stanford University team used artificial intelligence (AI) software and a brain- computer interface implanted in the brain of a man who had lost movement below his neck after a spinal cord injury. The interface consists of two chips, about the size of a baby aspirin, implanted in the man’s motor cortex in the region that controls hand movements. The electrodes in each chip send signals from the neurons to a computer, where the AI software reads the motion of the patient’s hands and fingers.

The scientists instructed the man to imagine he was writing with a pen on a sheet of paper. Although more tests of safety, longevity, and effectiveness have to be conducted before the technique can be used more widely, the interface translated the mental visualization of handwriting movements into text, ultimately reaching a writing speed of about 18 words per minute, with 94% accuracy.