Scientists have developed a form of digital telepathy that can read human minds. The breakthrough technology, called "mind captioning," uses artificial intelligence to decode non-invasive MRI brain scans and translate them into precise sentences describing what people are seeing or remembering.
The system uses a sophisticated two-stage AI that converts brain patterns into language. In trials with six volunteers, the technology demonstrated remarkable accuracy. When one participant watched someone leaping from a waterfall, the AI generated the description: "a person jumps over a deep water fall on a mountain ridge."
Computational neuroscientist Alex Huth from the University of California, Berkeley, told Scientific American about the technology's capabilities. He emphasized the computer's ability to predict scenes «with a lot of detail». Huth added: «This is hard to do. It's surprising you can get that much detail.»
Potential and limitations
The technology could help individuals with language difficulties, such as stroke survivors, communicate more effectively. This represents a significant advancement over previous attempts that could only produce individual keywords rather than complete descriptions.
However, the current system has substantial limitations. It requires willing participation from users, extensive personalized training data, and access to a large MRI scanner. There is no indication yet that the technology can interpret spontaneous, unprompted internal thoughts.
Privacy concerns
The development raises significant ethical questions about mental privacy and informed consent. Experts worry that AI's growing ability to uncover personal thoughts, emotions, and health conditions could lead to exploitation for surveillance, manipulation, or other malicious purposes. As the technology advances, these concerns are expected to intensify.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
