Science Can Read Your Mind
Steve Connor, Independent: Having the ability to read someone’s mind with a “thought machine” has come a step closer after scientists showed that they could guess a person’s memory simply by looking at the electrical activity of their brain.
Scientists have found that spatial memories can be “read” by a brain scanner so that it is possible to predict automatically where someone imagines themselves to be (the exact location in a maze, for instance) without actually asking them.
“It’s also a small step toward the idea of mind reading, because just by looking at neural activity, we are able to say what someone is thinking,” said Demis Hassabis of University College London.
It may one day be possible to do the same with other types of memories and thoughts, although the possibility of using a mind-reading machine to solve crimes or to fight terrorism is still a distant prospect, Dr Hassabis said.
“It’s at least 10 years, probably more, from getting anywhere near that kind of technology, where you could literally read someone’s thoughts in a single short session when they don’t want you to,” he said. “We might be about 10 years away from doing that, so it might be useful to start having those ethical discussions in the near future in preparation for that — but we’re still a long way from doing anything practical,” Dr Hassabis said.
