MacOSXMan Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 The brain scan that can read people's intentions Call for ethical debate over possible use of new technology in interrogation London Guardian | February 9, 2007 Ian Sample A team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person's brain and read their intentions before they act. The research breaks controversial new ground in scientists' ability to probe people's minds and eavesdrop on their thoughts, and raises serious ethical issues over how brain-reading technology may be used in the future. The team used high-resolution brain scans to identify patterns of activity before translating them into meaningful thoughts, revealing what a person planned to do in the near future. It is the first time scientists have succeeded in reading intentions in this way. "Using the scanner, we could look around the brain for this information and read out something that from the outside there's no way you could possibly tell is in there. It's like shining a torch around, looking for writing on a wall," said John-Dylan Haynes at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany, who led the study with colleagues at University College London and Oxford University. The research builds on a series of recent studies in which brain imaging has been used to identify tell-tale activity linked to lying, violent behaviour and racial prejudice. The latest work reveals the dramatic pace at which neuroscience is progressing, prompting the researchers to call for an urgent debate into the ethical issues surrounding future uses for the technology. If brain-reading can be refined, it could quickly be adopted to assist interrogations of criminals and terrorists, and even usher in a "Minority Report" era (as portrayed in the Steven Spielberg science fiction film of that name), where judgments are handed down before the law is broken on the strength of an incriminating brain scan. "These techniques are emerging and we need an ethical debate about the implications, so that one day we're not surprised and overwhelmed and caught on the wrong foot by what they can do. These things are going to come to us in the next few years and we should really be prepared," Professor Haynes told the Guardian. The use of brain scanners to judge whether people are likely to commit crimes is a contentious issue that society should tackle now, according to Prof Haynes. "We see the danger that this might become compulsory one day, but we have to be aware that if we prohibit it, we are also denying people who aren't going to commit any crime the possibility of proving their innocence." During the study, the researchers asked volunteers to decide whether to add or subtract two numbers they were later shown on a screen. Before the numbers flashed up, they were given a brain scan using a technique called functional magnetic imaging resonance. The researchers then used a software that had been designed to spot subtle differences in brain activity to predict the person's intentions with 70% accuracy. The study revealed signatures of activity in a marble-sized part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex that changed when a person intended to add the numbers or subtract them. Because brains differ so much, the scientists need a good idea of what a person's brain activity looks like when they are thinking something to be able to spot it in a scan, but researchers are already devising ways of deducing what patterns are associated with different thoughts. Barbara Sahakian, a professor of neuro-psychology at Cambridge University, said the rapid advances in neuroscience had forced scientists in the field to set up their own neuroethics society late last year to consider the ramifications of their research. "Do we want to become a 'Minority Report' society where we're preventing crimes that might not happen?," she asked. "For some of these techniques, it's just a matter of time. It is just another new technology that society has to come to terms with and use for the good, but we should discuss and debate it now because what we don't want is for it to leak into use in court willy nilly without people having thought about the consequences. "A lot of neuroscientists in the field are very cautious and say we can't talk about reading individuals' minds, and right now that is very true, but we're moving ahead so rapidly, it's not going to be that long before we will be able to tell whether someone's making up a story, or whether someone intended to do a crime with a certain degree of certainty." Professor Colin Blakemore, a neuroscientist and director of the Medical Research Council, said: "We shouldn't go overboard about the power of these techniques at the moment, but what you can be absolutely sure of is that these will continue to roll out and we will have more and more ability to probe people's intentions, minds, background thoughts, hopes and emotions. "Some of that is extremely desirable, because it will help with diagnosis, education and so on, but we need to be thinking the ethical issues through. It adds a whole new gloss to personal medical data and how it might be used." The technology could also drive advances in brain-controlled computers and machinery to boost the quality of life for disabled people. Being able to read thoughts as they arise in a person's mind could lead to computers that allow people to operate email and the internet using thought alone, and write with word processors that can predict which word or sentence you want to type . The technology is also expected to lead to improvements in thought-controlled wheelchairs and artificial limbs that respond when a person imagines moving. "You can imagine how tedious it is if you want to write a letter by using a cursor to pick out letters on a screen," said Prof Haynes. "It would be much better if you thought, 'I want to reply to this email', or, 'I'm thinking this word', and the computer can read that and understand what you want to do." ? FAQ: Mind reading What have the scientists developed? They have devised a system that analyses brain activity to work out a person's intentions before they have acted on them. More advanced versions may be able to read complex thoughts and even pick them up before the person is conscious of them. How does it work? The computer learns unique patterns of brain activity or signatures that correspond to different thoughts. It then scans the brain to look for these signatures and predicts what the person is thinking. How could it be used? It is expected to drive advances in brain-controlled computers, leading to artificial limbs and machinery that respond to thoughts. More advanced versions could be used to help interrogate criminals and assess prisoners before they are released. Controversially, they may be able to spot people who plan to commit crimes before they break the law. What is next? The researchers are honing the technique to distinguish between passing thoughts and genuine intentions. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
strekship Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I don't see a problem with it. If someone is interrogated and they plan on committing murder or something like that then they can lock them up before a life is lost. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588310847 Share on other sites More sharing options...
goji Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 This is AWESOME technology. However, there is one slight problem with it... its human. What if someone is more "inclined" to commit a certain act, there is no real way to gauge if that person will or will not do it regardless of statistical information. This is indeed interesting. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588310852 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacOSXMan Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 (edited) If it's made by man it will have flaws, this technology could(or should I say will be) be abused by the government. Meanwhile, GPS shoes are being sold to make people more findable. :wacko: Edited February 11, 2007 by WinMacsta06 Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588310861 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edrick Smith Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Alright I didn't read the whole thing but just because one moment I want to kill someone doesn't mean I'll a) act appon it and b) have the same thought minutes later. I've wanted to kill someone before but I've never acted on it, and I wouldn't go through with it. So what are we going to be putting babies in jail years later when this technology is advanced because of a act they could commit 40 years from now :-P (I know not what the article was talking about) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588310869 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Frett Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I've always "thought" about killing people and doing violent things. Never done them. So slap the cuffs on baby, I'm off to jail!. It's BS. Useless crap designed to throw innocent people in jail just because a machine says you did something you didn't. Burn it. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588311155 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvme Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I don't see a problem with it. If someone is interrogated and they plan on committing murder or something like that then they can lock them up before a life is lost. that sounds like the movie Minority Report Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588311161 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Was posted earlier in Real World Issues: https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=537428 Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588311205 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 Thought and intent are not the same things. I have thought about killing people, but I can pretty much say I will never do it. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/537490-the-brain-scan-that-can-read-peoples-intentions/#findComment-588311225 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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