I have a post with the video presentation by the WEF about brain transparency and AI reading your mind that will scare you, as they were working on it with headphones you’re forced to wear while working. And the premise was that it is a requirement to be employed, also with software to nudge you when drifting to focus back on your work. And this was always pointing to future brain implants taking over from wearable devices. And if you look at how big tech is tracking us like dogs with smartphones, connected vehicles, facial recognition and license plate reading cameras… they’re not going to respect our privacy with brain implants, as they’ll first exploit it for profit and then use it as part of the digital Panopticon, forcing you to self censor your thoughts.
By Tyler Durden
A new study out of Stanford University reveals that neural implants, also known as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), might not just help paralyzed individuals communicate – they could potentially lay bare your innermost thoughts to Big Tech.
Published in the medical journal Cell, the research shows these devices can decode brain signals to produce synthesized speech faster and with less effort.
BCIs work by using tiny electrode arrays to monitor activity in the brain’s motor cortex, the region controlling speech-related muscles. Until now, the tech relied on signals from paralyzed individuals actively trying to speak. The Stanford team, however, discovered that even imagined speech generates similar, though weaker, signals in the motor cortex. With the help of artificial intelligence, they translated those faint signals into words with up to 74% accuracy from a 125,000-word vocabulary.
“We’re recording the signals as they’re attempting to speak and translating those neural signals into the words that they’re trying to say,” said Erin Kunz, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford’s Neural Prosthetics Translational Laboratory.
But this technological leap has raised red flags among critics who warn of a dystopian future where your private thoughts could be exposed.
Nita Farahany, a Duke University law and philosophy professor and author of The Battle for Your Brain, sounded the alarm telling NPR, “The more we push this research forward, the more transparent our brains become.”
Farahany expressed concern that tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta could exploit BCIs to access consumers’ minds without consent, urging safeguards like passwords to protect thoughts meant to stay private.
“We have to recognize that this new era of brain transparency really is an entirely new frontier for us,” Farahany said.
While the world fixates on artificial intelligence, some of the tech industry’s heaviest hitters are pouring billions into BCIs. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has raised $1.2 billion for his Neuralink venture, which is now conducting clinical trials with top institutions like the Barrow Neurological Institute, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
Now, another tech titan is entering the fray.
OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is launching Merge Labs to challenge Musk’s Neuralink. Backed by OpenAI’s venture arm and valued at $850 million, Merge Labs is seeking $250 million in funding, according to the Financial Times. While Altman will serve as a co-founder alongside Alex Blania of the iris-scanning World project, sources say he won’t take an operational role.