The cybernetic approach makes it possible to develop mathematical models and simulations of the processes of self-organization through which such coordination and collective intelligence emerges. In 1994 Kevin Kelly, in his popular book "", posited the emergence of a "hive mind" from a discussion of cybernetics and evolutionary biology. In 1996, Francis Heylighen and Ben Goertzel founded the Global Brain group, a discussion forum grouping most of the researchers that had been working on the subject of the global brain to further investigate this phenomenon. The group organized the first international conference on the topic in 2001 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. After a period of relative neglect, the Global Brain idea has recently seen a resurgence in interest, in part due to talks given on the topic by Tim O'Reilly, the Internet forecaster who popularized the term Web 2.0, and Yuri Milner, the social media investor. In January 2012, the Global Brain Institute (GBI) was founded at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to develop a mathematical theory of the “brainlike” propagation of information across the Internet. In the same year, Thomas W. Malone and collaborators from the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence have started to explore how the global brain could be “programmed” to work more effectively, using mechanisms of collective intelligence. The complexity scientist Dirk Helbing and his NervousNet group have recently started developing a "Planetary Nervous System", which includes a "Global Participatory Platform", as part of the large-scale FuturICT project, thus preparing some of the groundwork for a Global Brain. In July 2017 Elon Musk founded the company Neuralink, which aims to create a Neural Lace, which is a concept invented by the novelist Iain M. Banks and basically refers to a machine interface woven into the brain, to allow the user to access all available human information. A core driver behind this business idea is Musk's argument that human beings soon have to embrace brain implants to stay relevant in a world which, he believes, will soon be dominated by artificial intelligence. The firm raised $27m from 12 Investors in 2017 . A common criticism of the idea that humanity would become directed by a global brain is that this would reduce individual diversity and freedom, and lead to mass surveillance. This criticism is inspired by totalitarian forms of government, as exemplified by George Orwell's character of "Big Brother". It is also inspired by the analogy between collective intelligence or swarm intelligence and insect societies, such as beehives and ant colonies, in which individuals are essentially interchangeable.