A future with Brain Computer Interfaces: paradise or horror?

Kiran Mak
Kiran Mak
Nov 1 · 6 min read

Imagine the wonder people must have felt when they saw the first library or when the internet became a thing. A seemingly infinite amount of information all in one place literally at your fingertips.

World’s oldest known library — build in modern day Iraq for Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. It contained over 30,000 cuneiform tablets.

Now what if that one place were inside your brain?! All you would need to do is think, “hey, I wonder when the bus will be here” or “what’s it like in Yellowstone National Park” and the answer would be downloaded from the internet into your head. This is the future of BCIs (Brain Computer Interfaces) and not too far away!!


What are Brain Computer Interfaces?

Basically its a communication link between your brain and an external device.

Right now it can take a couple different forms:

  • EEG (electroencephalography) — a head “cap” that has a bunch of electrodes to map electrical signals from the brain (non-invasive)
  • ECG (electrocorticography) — electrodes are placed inside the brain (invasive)
  • Chip — an computer chip placed internally (invasive)

Some quick neurobiology background:

Transmission of an electrical signal between neurons
Transmission of an electrical signal between neurons
Transmission of electrical signal between neurons

Neurons control everything! Neurons are connected in networks and transmit information via electrical impulses. When a neuron receives a large enough electrical signal, it activates and fires. An individual neuron doesn’t create a very large signal when it fires, but when an entire section of the brain is active it can be measured. The BCIs above are able to measure this activity and some are able to actually affect the electrical signals.


Applications:

Things in the works:

  • Entertainment — VR in your head
  • Mental Disorders — help people with PTSD and ADHD
  • Education — track students’ concentration levels and individualize learning content
  • Epilepsy and seizure control — scientists have been able to place a chip in patients’ brains that can passively recognize warning signs of seizures and neutralize them. Since it’s passive, you wouldn’t even notice anything is there!
Designed by NeuroPace for patients with epilepsy, the leads deliver “counter” electrical signal to prevent oncoming seizures
  • Exoskeletons — full exoskeletons have been built to allow paralyzed people to walk. Unfortunately, it takes over a year to fully learn how to use it.

Things a bit further away (animal testing phase):

  • When chips were placed in a paralyzed monkey’s brain and lower spine, they were able to wirelessly communicate (effectively making them fake neurons) and allow the monkey to walk
  • Monkeys and now a few people were able to drive a wheelchair and control a robotic arm with their brain

Things of the (slightly more) distant future (this stuff is insane!):

All of the knowledge in the world!! Pretty much instantaneous information and infinite storage

Shared experiences:

  • Experience new senses — See UV or infrared wavelengths
  • Feel others’ emotions — You would literally be able to feel the joy or pain of any person in the world!
  • Mind-mind communication — This was actually done in two rats with computer chips connected to the internet. One rat spent weeks learning how to perform a complicated set of tasks to achieve a reward. When the second rat (in a different city!) was connected, it was able to immediately get the reward without all of the trial and error.
  • Transfer memories and experiences — You would be able to download other peoples’ lives. You could go bungee jumping or “live” someone else’s life (you could “be” Bill Gates)! The memories would feel as real to you as ones you actually had; you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between your own life and memories and those of other peoples’.

So clearly this is going to change the world … a lot

This will have profound impacts for people suffering from mental illness or impairments limiting bodily functions or motor control. These are going to be the first widespread uses.

But second, the idea of what knowledge means will be permanently different. What will education even look like if the internet is in everyone’s head? Information will be “on-demand”. It will even more of a commodity. And if we can share other peoples’ experiences, lives will become “opens-sourced”?!

Essentially you will be able to create your own reality. Virtual reality in your head — no clunky equipment — it will feel indistinguishable from your life!

It could feel as if you were in this picture

And if everyone is connected to the same internet and has access to the same memories and experiences, what is going to make each person different? It will matter more what you spend your time learning and how you think.

How might this connect to issues of social inequality? Will it widen preexisting gaps into the haves and have nots? Or can it even the playing field by reducing barriers to knowledge?


The glaring issues

If your brain becomes digitalized and connected to the internet, it will become susceptible to all of the same threats to today’s data. Hacking.

Someone would be able to:

  • Read your brain — all of your thoughts, information — everything in your head could be accessed
  • Overwrite your memories — someone could delete your memories or give you new ones, and you may not even realize!
  • Mind control — yes, this is sci-fi-esque, but you could be subconsciously controlled

In other words, your brain would be only as secure as a computer is now.

Ethicality of continued research

Historically, all scientific and technological advances have come with numerous societal benefits, but also at least an equal number of problems. The best assests are also the most dangerous weapons.

But for better or worse, none of this has ever stopped us before.

Ever since the Scientific Revolution when people decided more knowlegde + more stuff + being the first → better life, the idea of technological advance is an unstoppable force (and it’s not as if we’re unmovable objects — I mean, we don’t not want cool gadgets right?). So it’s inevitable that Brain Computer Interfaces are going to be part of the future. We can’t fight it, and I don’t know that we should.

We are already struggling between technology and privacy and the stakes are only getting higher. So going forward, we need to make sure we are smart and aware; we need to be thinking about how we can use this (and all) technology in a safe way. This is going to be one of the key issues going forward, how to strike that balance.

Take a moment to think about this ethicality (or that of any other issue). What is your line between right and wrong? How about those around you? How can we manage the increasingly present technology in our lives?

These are the questions we will have to grapple with in the coming years so start thinking now! Do some research!

While life as we know it will completely change, as with every other life shattering revolution, we will find a way to adapt because we have to. BCIs hold so much opportunity — they can and already are doing amazing things! The impact this will have on people with faulty neural connections alone is arguably enough to make this worth pursuing.

Essentially this is the question: what price, what risks we willing to take to turn humans into superhumans.

Key Takaways:

  • BCIs have incredible possibilities — medicine, knowledge, and shared experiences
  • Some cool examples being implemented now are: curing paralysis, prosthetic mind control, and mind to mind communication over the internet!
  • You will be able to design reality!
  • With this also comes risks of hacking — mind alterations, privacy — so we need to be careful

Hope you enjoyed the article! Feel free to contact me at kiranamak@gmail.com.

Kiran Mak

Written by

Kiran Mak

Hi, I’m Kiran, 15 years old, a lover of learning, and hoping to change the world. I’m super interested in programmable materials and machine learning.

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