A study by the University of Texas at Austin showed how neural networks convert brain activity into words with impressive accuracy using MRI and machine learning. This is one of many technologies learning to read brain signals and convert them into practical outputs: from words to video and movements, like kicking a ball.
This raises an ethical question: thought is our last private property. Will we lose the right to think freely? Are we approaching a dystopia where crimes are predicted before they occur, like in "Minority Report"?
Let's start by reviewing the technologies that exist today.
Is it possible to read minds with AI?
Over the past decade, many experiments have been conducted to read brain waves and convert them into images, text, video, or commands for robots. The most famous project is perhaps Elon Musk's Neuralink, which promises device control through thought power, but its results are still controversial, so we'll leave it aside.
Other studies have already succeeded:
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In 2018, researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough reconstructed human facial images based solely on brain signals – a tool that could improve suspect identification beyond witness descriptions.
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Brain-computer interfaces help those who have lost speech or writing ability: brain activity is translated into text at a rate of ~90 characters per minute with about 95% accuracy.
However, some organizations are already using this for monitoring purposes.
Who has already started reading minds?
In China, wearable devices already exist that supposedly read employee emotions and student attention levels; parents can track concentration using headbands. Despite limited accuracy, the very intrusion into privacy has caused an uproar.
Who watches the watchers?
Historically, personal information is hot currency: from credit cards to browsing history. Now a gateway to the inner world has opened. Even if the goal is good – public security – we've experienced how easy it is to give up freedom for illusory security.
"Neuro-rights" are emerging: the UN Human Rights Council has emphasized the need for standards to protect thought. Organizations like the NeuroRights Foundation are promoting an international standard.
Freedom of thought has long been enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; now it needs to be implemented in a new technological reality.
Summary: Freedom or Security?
Mind reading through AI is reality, not science fiction. It can transform medicine and communication, but also open the door to control, manipulation, and rights violations.
Like any powerful technology, clear ethical frameworks are required.
