If you think the future of AI is going to be mostly good, and the things we’re going to have to give up are going to pale in comparison, well…Duke University futurist Nita Farahany has some bad news for you.
She presented a program at the World Economic Forum in Davos called “The Battle for Your Brain,” and promises the tech used to decode brain waves already exists – and is being used.
“You may be surprised to learn it is a future that has already arrived. Artificial intelligence has enabled advances in decoding brain activity in ways we never before thought possible. What you think, what you feel – it’s all just data – data that in large patterns can be decoded using artificial intelligence.”
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Sensors can be embedded in all kinds of wearable devices, like headbands, hats, tattoos, or earbuds, and us EEG signals and AI-powered devices to collect data on emotional states, concentration levels, simple shapes, and responses to numbers that could give away things like numeric pin codes.
People like Farahany claim the future would contain instances like employers using AI to monitor whether or not their employees minds are wandering or if they’re focused on something other than work.
“When you combine brainwave activity together with other forms of surveillance technology, the power becomes quite precise.”
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She also says being able to manage personal technology with our thoughts is not far off.
“The coming future, and I mean near-term future, these devices become the common way to interact with all other devices. It is an exciting and promising future, but also a scary future. Surveillance of the human brain can be powerful, helpful, useful, transform the workplace, and make our lives better.
It also has a dystopian possibility of being used to exploit and bring to the surface our most secret self.”
Farahany believes we need to have an urgent and frank discussion about things like freedom of thoughts and mental privacy before things go too far.
Technology has the power for good, as it could help people better understand their mental health and well-being, or even predict future medical issues, but all of this creates data that can be used for nefarious purposes, too.
So much for being able to keep your thoughts to yourself.