aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

William Saletan on the arrival of mind-reading machines:

To get a clear snapshot of free will, [John-Dylan Haynes, a brilliant researcher at Germany’s Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience] designed an experiment that would isolate it from other mental functions. No objects to interpret; no physical movements to anticipate or execute; no reasoning to perform. Participants were put in an fMRI machine and were told they would soon be shown the word “select,” followed a few seconds later by two numbers. Their job was to covertly decide, when they saw the “select” cue, whether to add or subtract the unseen numbers. Then, they were to perform the chosen calculation and punch a button corresponding to the correct answer. The snapshot was taken right after the “select” cue, when they had nothing to do but choose addition or subtraction. [...]

The computer got it right 71 percent of the time.

I know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone want a machine to read his mind? But imagine being paralyzed, unable to walk, type, or speak. Imagine a helmet full of electrodes, or a chip implanted in your head, that lets your brain tell your computer which key to press. Those technologies are already here. And why endure the agony of mental hunt-and-peck? Why not design computers that, like a smart secretary, can discern and execute even abstract intentions? That’s what Haynes has in mind. You want to open a folder or an e-mail, and your computer does it. Your wish is its command.

SEE ALSO: Jeffrey Rosen here and here on Neuroscience Law.