GabyA team of scientists from Osaka University claims that AI can read signals from our brain and convert them into images.
For several years, researchers have been training Stable Diffusion (a tool artificial intelligence to reconstruct visual images based on human brain activity. The images generated by artificial intelligence using fMRI scanning bear a striking resemblance to the original images that the participants in the experiment saw.
«Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)fMRIis used for mapping brain activity, observing tiny changes inblood flowthat indicate the activity of certain parts of the brain», Joseph reminded.ErliPhD student in the field of artificial intelligenceinInstituteandAlanaTuring(United Kingdom).
As the authors of the study, Yu Takagi and Shinji Nishimoto, explained, during the fMRI scanning, each participant in the experiment was shown 10,000 photos of various objects. The results of the brain’s processing of the images were transmitted to a computer. The Stable Diffusion system read and reconstructed the obtained data.
Interestingly, the AI perceived the brain activity of some people better than others. Despite the differences, in most cases, the reconstructed images were similar to the pictures seen by the participants. Just take a look at the photo illustration, where the top row contains the originals that the participants saw, and the bottom row shows the AI reconstructions.
During the study, artificial intelligence was able to recreate what the participants saw by analyzing their brain activity. According to scientists, theoretically, this method could be used to gather images directly from a person’s imagination. However, it is currently unclear how exactly brain activity will be deciphered, the researchers noted.
At the same time, they believe that this technology could potentially be useful in developing brain-machine interfaces to assist patients with vision and brain disorders.
What about reading thoughts that the vast majority of people do not wish to share with anyone, including artificial intelligence? Scientists have reassured that deploying such technology outside of a laboratory setting will be very labor-intensive and expensive. Currently, the need to personalize the technology for each individual complicates the reading of thoughts.
So for now, there’s no need to worry about hiding your secret thoughts from artificial intelligence and other people.
However, considering the rapid pace of technological development, it can be assumed that in the near or distant future, reading thoughts by intelligent machines is quite likely. And humanity will ultimately receive the most undesirable gift of all.
