In the future, will your smartphone read your thoughts?

A Finnish study allowed artificial intelligence to create images based on ideas, and this experiment is another step towards achieving Elon Musk's dream, which is based on connecting humans with devices. For example, imagine a world in which a person wears a helmet that analyzes brain waves and allows the control of connected objects as well as the creation of images and the transmission of thoughts through a computer or smartphone.

In his report, published by the French newspaper L'OBS, writer Jean-Paul Fritz wonders if this step will help correct speech, restore sight, help people who have been denied the right to move, or make the dishwasher clean. Dishes as soon as the owner thinks about it.

For his part, the founder and president of the American company "Space X", Elon Musk, said that he would like to insert a chip into the human skull and connect it better with devices or with the aim of turning us into "enhanced" humans who are able to delegate our memory or thoughts to the computer. Today, the work by 3 Finnish researchers, published in the journal Scientific Reports, takes the human-machine interface a step further, enabling artificial intelligence to create images that match ideas.

Two Main Trends

The author added that the connection between the biological brain and digital intelligence is still in its infancy. Although some progress has been made, we are still a long way from actually communicating with devices. In fact, there are two main directions of research for direct neural interfaces: non-privileged approaches such as Elon Musk's project to implant chips with electrodes inserted into the brain, and valid approaches such as magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography.

The truth is, MRI requires heavy equipment, so anytime soon we won't see a machine that can follow us around to scan neuronal activity. On the other hand, EEG is as close as possible to a portable technology, as there are already versions that can be connected to a smartphone.

The author indicated that if we can read brain activity, this would mean that progress, although limited, is impressive. For example, in 2011 The Gallant Lab at UC Berkeley succeeded in accurately reconstructing images seen by volunteers from the activity of their visual cortex. A year later, a Japanese team succeeded in decoding the signals corresponding to the images people dreamed of when they were undergoing brain scans.

Deciphering the Imagery We Imagine

Laurie Kangasalo, Michelle Sababe and Toka Rutzalo, from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki, were chosen to conduct their experiments in order to push the human-machine interface even further. So. Here, it is no longer just a matter of writing a letter or replacing the mouse with the idea, but rather it includes capturing the data in the mind in order to visualize it.

Meanwhile, the scientists asked a group of 31 volunteers to think about categories of faces, whether young or old - women or men - and while recording the associated brain waves, they presented them for the first time with computer-generated faces with some characteristics.

For his part, Professor Tuca Rutsalo, co-author of the study, said, "The technology combines natural human reactions with the ability of a computer to create new information." "During the experiment, the participants were asked to only look at the computerized images. In turn, the computer modeled the images and the human reaction using the interactions of the human brain, and from here the computer could create a completely new image that corresponds to the user's intent," Rozzallo added.

In contrast, the other researchers said, "To our knowledge, this new study is the first of its kind in which computer information display and brain signals were designed simultaneously using artificial intelligence methods."

More well-being.. More anxiety

By applying these principles, a computer can be made to imagine what a person is thinking and display the corresponding images. Moreover, Finnish scientists, who believe that such technology can help artists, assert that the technique can be used in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

For his part, Rotzallo said, "If you want to draw or illustrate something and you are unable to do so, the computer can help you achieve your goal by monitoring your center of attention and predicting what you want to create."

In this regard, Michel Sabbi explained, "This technology does not recognize thoughts, but rather responds to the associations that we form with mental categories."

If artificial intelligence can decode the images in the human brain, then it is possible to imagine the potential deviations if we succeed in detailing and analyzing our unconscious thoughts or associations with the help of this type of technology.

As always, technological advances lead to greater luxury, yet the possibility of computers reading thoughts remains a matter of controversy and concern.