Mind-Reading Technology is Coming Sooner than you expected

Mind-reading technology is coming sooner than you expected. It was announced by Facebook and Elon Musk’s Neuralink that they are working on tech that would be able to read your mind.

Facebook is funding research on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). They would be able to pick your thoughts directly from neurons and translate them into words. According to the researchers, they have developed an algorithm that would be able to decode words from brain activity.

As for Musk’s company, it has created “threads” that can be implanted into your brain. Then it could one day control your phones and computers with just your thoughts. Musk is ready to test this tech by the end of 2020.

There are many other companies that are working on brain tech including Kernel, Emotiv, and Neurosky. They say that they aim to help people with paralysis to control their devices through this tech.

Must read: Facebook Artificial Intelligence Assistant M Is Out There

Despite the positive impact of this technology, there will be consequences. Misuse of the technology is to be expected, thus it is important that revamped human right laws are put into place, as expressed by a few neuroethicists.

A researcher at ETH Zurich and a neuroethicist Marcello Ienca said, “I’m very concerned about the commercialization of brain data in the consumer market. And I’m not talking about a farfetched future. We already have consumer neurotech, with people trading their brain data for services from private companies.”

The four rights Lenca believes we need are the right to cognitive liberty, the right to mental privacy, the right to mental integrity and the right to psychological continuity.