SCIENTISTS have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that has the eerie ability to read people’s minds.
It might sound alarming, but the US researchers also uncovered a way to stop your mind from being read against your will.
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Researchers called the new AI model a “real leap forward” in helping those who are mentally conscious but unable to physically speak.
It’s a major advancement in the technology that may one day help those unable to talk after a stroke.
The team trained an AI system called a semantic decoder to translate a person’s brain activity into text.
Participants listened to a story, or imagined telling a story, when the AI decoder turned brain activity scans from an fMRI scanner into words to read aloud.
The new tool relies partly on models similar to the ones that power OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
It hasn’t exactly been plucked straight out of a sci-fi film just yet, however.
The AI model is only able to convey “the gist” of people’s thoughts, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on Monday.
One example that researchers included in the study detailed a participant listening to a speaker saying “I don’t have my driver’s license yet” and having their thoughts translated as, “She has not even started to learn to drive yet”.
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In a statement, co-author of the study Alex Huth said: “For a noninvasive method, this is a real leap forward compared to what’s been done before, which is typically single words or short sentences.
“A person needs to spend up to 15 hours lying in an MRI scanner, being perfectly still, and paying good attention to stories that they’re listening to before this really works well on them.”
The researchers have made clear that is it not a perfect science yet, but have raised concerns over its potential abuse.
“We take very seriously the concerns that it could be used for bad purposes and have worked to avoid that,” said Jerry Tang, another author of the study.
“We want to make sure people only use these types of technologies when they want to and that it helps them.”
Following extensive research, scientists found that unwilling participants could potentially defend against having their thoughts put on display.
Tactics like thinking of animals or imagining their your story can let you beat the system.
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