Neurotech: A frontier technology progressing rapidly

Neurotech advances begin to determine the images you see and the sounds you hear.

About a month ago, Pete Huang from the Neuron posted a summary of a preprint article on LinkedIn. The research related to an experiment by researchers Yu Takagi from Shinji Nishimoto from Osaka University, Japan that used stable diffusion combined with MRI to reconstruct an image from brain waves. There were several discussions related to Huang’s post including a skeptical take and many responses. There was also a lot of discussion about the meme that Huang created when he wrote, “It’s as if Stable Diffusion can read minds”. This commenter had a narrower interpretation of what is actually happening with the tech. In any case, the preprint and post were illuminating on how AI combined with other technologies is moving us toward a day when computers will, at a minimum be able to map our thoughts to text.

Yesterday, I read a related article on Singularity Hub, written by Vanessa Bates Ramirez discussing a paper entitled “Neural decoding of music from the EEG” published by Nature-Scientific Reports. The study, conducted by Ian Daly from the University of Sussex used electroencephalography (EEG) connected to participants scalps to pick up electrical signals of firing neurons in the brain along with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to show blood oxygenation flow in response to neural activity. The combination of EEG and fMRI brain scans resulted in the model correctly determining the music (selected from 36 different songs) played to the participants 72%, of the time.

These recent studies by Yu Takagi and Shinji Nishimoto and Ian Daly demonstrate how the combination of AI and other technologies like EEG and fMRI are paving the way for the development of advanced neurotechnology. While these advancements can solve age-old problems such as deep brain stimulation and fatigue tracking, they also raise concerns impacting privacy and freedom of thought. As the field of neurotechnology continues to progress, it will be crucial to consider the ethical implications of these developments and ensure that they are used in ways that benefit society as a whole.