{"id":4391,"date":"2023-08-18T11:29:55","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T11:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyai.com\/?p=4391"},"modified":"2024-03-28T00:45:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T00:45:42","slug":"ai-mind-reading-medical-breakthrough-or-step-towards-dystopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyai.com\/it\/2023\/08\/ai-mind-reading-medical-breakthrough-or-step-towards-dystopia\/","title":{"rendered":"Lettura della mente da parte dell'intelligenza artificiale: scoperta medica o passo verso la distopia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our thoughts might be our innermost sanctum, but they’re not out-of-bounds for AI.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mind-reading AI appears as a plot from a science fiction novel, yet it holds immense promise for people who can\u2019t communicate due to paralysis or brain injuries.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, AI’s access to the brain would enable us to write, create, and design with mere thoughts alone or provide others with windows into our consciousness.<\/p>\n

For nearly a decade, electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, which captures electrical signals via scalp electrodes, has supported those suffering from severe strokes and completely locked-in syndrome (CLIP), a condition where someone is conscious but immobile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2014, an Italian sufferer of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Anselmo Paglialonga, used a <\/span>machine learning-integrated headset<\/span><\/a> to communicate using yes or no answers despite being unable to move a muscle. Some sufferers of the disease can move tiny muscles, like Stephen Hawking, who could twitch his cheek muscle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
An Emotiv brain-computer interface. Source: Emotiv<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As AI advances, researchers are bridging the gap from simple signal interpretation to translating complex thoughts in their entirety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In time, people may be able to speak and communicate without moving a muscle, quite literally through the power of thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That same technology could enable us to control complex machines using our brains, compose music by imagining a melody, or paint and draw by conjuring images with our minds.\u00a0<\/span>We could even \u2018record\u2019 our dreams from brain waves and replay them later.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the not-too-distant future, mind-reading AI could be used to forcibly read someone\u2019s memories, for example, to verify their witness of a crime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hackers could even briefly trick you into imagining your personal information while extracting a copy of your thoughts from your brain. Totalitarian regimes might run routine tests on citizens to monitor divergent thoughts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, with the ability to convert thoughts into a computerized reality, humans could spend their lives in a dreamscape sandbox where they can mold their realities at will.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, such applications seem surreal and fantastical, but several recent experiments have laid the groundwork for a future where the brain is accessible to AI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AI to read your mind<\/span><\/h2>\n

So, how is any of this even possible?<\/p>\n

To translate brain activity into a usable output that can be passed into a computer, it\u2019s first necessary to take accurate measurements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s the first hurdle, as the brain is about as mysterious as the furthest reaches of space or the deepest oceans. There\u2019s little consensus on how neuronic activity produces complex thoughts, let alone consciousness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The human brain \u2013 and indeed other nervous systems across nature \u2013 are home to billions of neurons, most of which fire 5 to 100 times a second. In the human brain, each second of thought involves trillions of <\/span>individual neuronic actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring neuronic activity at a granular level is the holy grail for neuroscience, but it\u2019s not possible right now \u2013 especially using non-invasive techniques.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, brain measurements are more holistic, extracted from blood movement or exchanges of electrical signals. There are three well-established methods to measure brain activity:<\/span><\/p>\n