computer will be able to know what you are thinking

[uruk]

I posted this in Science and technology but I thought I'd post it here also because of what it may imply about the brain and mind.

http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/January/jan3_justmitchell.shtml

According to the article, researchers at Carnegie Melon have developed a program that can acurrately tell what picture you are looking at from a set of pictures based on neural activity.

Thought it might raise some interesting questions concerning the mind. If not, Just ignore

 

[INRM]

Does it does it just know what areas light up when you look at a wrench, a pole, a light-bulb etc, or can it actually "read" the activity in your brain and by reading the activity determine exactly what the image looks like to you?

INRM

 

[XBoxWarrior]

Will "Chris Hansen" be involved with this new Tech........

(it's an American Joke)

 

[uruk]

Does it does it just know what areas light up when you look at a wrench, a pole, a light-bulb etc, or can it actually "read" the activity in your brain and by reading the activity determine exactly what the image looks like to you?

INRM

It can tell if you are looking at a picture of a house based on the pattern of brain activity. I don't think it can generate an image of what you are looking at based on that activity. They said they pourposefully excluded data from the visual cortex to challenge the algorithm they created.

Maybe some day they will be able to reconstruct sensory input from the patterns. Maybe even directly generate them into the brain a la "Strange Days"

 

[INRM]

uruk,

Why not clearly explain what this says about the mind (I already have it figured out, but might as well illustrate it for the others)


INRM