Science fiction is quietly turning into a actuality.
Recently, scientists at Stanford University have for the primary time decoded the interior monologues in human minds into textual content with excessive precision utilizing brain-computer interface expertise. This analysis, revealed within the high journal Cell, brings a glimmer of hope for communication to sufferers with aphasia. At the identical time, it additionally brings the controversial mind-reading expertise from science fiction and literary works into actuality.
From the scientific realm to the crossroads of ethics, a profound transformation across the boundaries of thought has already begun.
While embracing the infinite potentialities introduced by expertise, do we have now sufficient knowledge to arrange a rule-based firewall prematurely for this “thought-reading” expertise?
Science fiction is quietly turning into a actuality.
This month, a paper within the high tutorial journal Cell has brought on a serious stir within the world scientific and moral communities.
A groundbreaking research led by a neuroscience staff at Stanford University within the United States introduced that they’ve achieved a historic breakthrough within the discipline of brain-computer interface (BCI) — for the primary time, they’ve efficiently recognized and decoded the mind actions associated to interior speech.
In this research, scientists implanted tiny silicon-based electrode arrays into the cerebral cortices of two volunteers who have been fully paralyzed and unable to talk as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and precisely captured the advanced neural indicators generated throughout their pondering processes.
In the laboratory, the volunteers’ ideas have been related to a high-performance pc by a skinny cable. On the display screen, the phrases they’d simply “spoken” of their minds have been being translated into textual content in real-time at a velocity of over 60 phrases per minute.
For somebody who has been unable to talk for practically a decade, this second is nothing in need of a miracle.
With the assistance of superior synthetic intelligence algorithms, the ideas in her thoughts are being “heard” by the world with an unprecedented accuracy of 74%.
The publication of this research rapidly made it to the entrance pages of the science and expertise sections of main world media equivalent to Xinhua News Agency. The public’s response was advanced and enthusiastic. On one hand, individuals cheered for the scientific progress that may assist aphasics rebuild their communication talents. On the opposite hand, there was deep concern about the truth that “mind-reading” has change into a actuality.
How precisely was this expertise achieved? How is it completely different from the brain-computer interfaces we knew previously?
It is launched that the brain-computer interface expertise just isn’t one thing that may be achieved in a single day. It is a science that research find out how to set up a direct data channel between the mind and exterior gadgets.
In the previous 20 years, it has made many vital developments: Paralyzed sufferers can management robotic arms to pour water for themselves by their ideas, and blind mice have regained partial imaginative and prescient.
However, these purposes nonetheless stay at a comparatively primary stage. The breakthrough at Stanford has taken this exploration into a brand new and extra controversial deep – water zone.
Revolutionary leap
For a very long time, the overwhelming majority of purposes of brain-computer interfaces have centered on decoding the mind’s motor intentions.
In March 2025, a staff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne additionally made the most recent progress on this discipline. They used BCI to assist paralyzed sufferers obtain extra exact and smoother strolling management, which represents a qualitative leap within the motor intention decoding expertise.
The particular person in command of the research mentioned, “We are moving from the stage of ‘can we do it’ to the stage of ‘how to do it better’. The goal of decoding motor intentions is no longer just on or off, but to achieve smooth and natural control like that of a healthy person.”
However, whether or not it’s controlling a robotic arm to pour water or driving the legs to stroll once more, the essence of those purposes is to learn the command indicators despatched by the motor cortex of the mind.
The problem of decoding interior monologues is totally completely different. It is a leap in dimension.
Silent language pondering is much extra advanced, summary, and scattered than a single motion command. It is not about “what to do”, however about “what to think”.
The revolutionary side of decoding interior monologues is that it could actually even bypass the motor cortex instantly associated to talking actions and extract indicators from extra summary pondering areas.
For instance, a earlier research at the California Institute of Technology tried to decode language from the posterior parietal cortex, which is taken into account to combine a number of sensory data and type notion. Extracting indicators from right here is harder, however additionally it is nearer to decoding pure ideas.
The nice potential of this expertise lies in its potential to assist sufferers who can’t even generate the muscle indicators for trying to talk. For instance, sufferers with locked-in syndrome are absolutely aware however fully paralyzed in all their muscle groups, even unable to regulate their eyeballs. This new expertise is their solely hope to speak with the world.
Their ideas are imprisoned of their our bodies and can’t be perceived by the surface world. Decoding interior monologues is the important thing to opening this silent jail.
The Pandora’s field has been opened
While the Stanford research brings new hope, it has additionally opened Pandora’s field.
When ideas are not an absolute privateness, we have now to face an moral storm.
In July this yr, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights launched a brand new report on neurotechnology and human rights, by which one view is especially noteworthy.
The report clearly states that “mental privacy should be regarded as a fundamental human right. Any act of obtaining a person’s neural data without their explicit consent should be considered illegal.”
In addition, the report additionally for the primary time systematically means that international locations ought to incorporate neuro – rights into their authorized programs, particularly together with the best to psychological privateness, the best to non-public identification, the best to free will, and the best to honest entry to cognitive enhancement applied sciences.
In truth, this report just isn’t unfounded alarmism, however an pressing response to the continuing actuality.
A couple of years in the past, a startup firm developed a non – invasive headband for college students to investigate their focus and studying effectivity, which was extremely controversial and was referred to as a “monitoring headband” in media experiences.
The regulation is struggling to maintain up with the tempo of technological progress.
In June this yr, California within the United States handed probably the most complete Neural Data Privacy Act so far.
This act not solely strictly restricts corporations from gathering customers’ neural information, but additionally for the primary time makes strict rules on neuromarketing, which is the apply of optimizing commercials and merchandise by analyzing brainwave information.
It will be seen that in contrast with the quite a few obstacles confronted by technological innovation, ethics and morality even have a protracted approach to go.
We might have reached a crossroads that may decide the destiny of humanity: On the evolutionary path in the direction of human – machine integration, will we transfer in the direction of a extra free future or a brand new world deeply managed by expertise?
This article is from the WeChat public account “NEXT Trends”, author: Fang Yuan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.