Neurotechnology using artificial intelligence opens the door to new possibilities in healthcare that did not exist before.
For decades, companies and researchers have been exploring implantable devices that interpret signals in the brain and translate them into words or physical commands. The technology is not new, but now artificial intelligence is accelerating advances and allowing people affected by debilitating diseases to communicate in ways that were previously physically impossible.
These devices have been a game changer for people like Rodney, who has ALS and had a Stentrode device implanted in his brain. Developed by Synchron, a neurotechnology company backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, the device includes a small electrode that converts brain signals into physical actions, allowing Rodney to type on the keyboard using only his thoughts.
While neurotechnology can be empowering for patients like Rodney, artificial intelligence can make less invasive neurotechnology more accessible to ordinary consumers and spur a new generation of consumer-facing tech products.
According to Precedence Research, the neurotechnology devices market was valued at approximately $15 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to over $55 billion by 2032. This is an important reason why major technology companies such as Meta (META) and Apple (AAPL) support this market. Researching devices that can decode thoughts and perceptions without requiring invasive surgery.
But as Big Tech moves to advance neurotechnological advances in the medical world, experts warn it could put our most valuable data at risk: the privacy of our thoughts.
“This is our last bastion of privacy, and we have given up on every other aspect of privacy that exists,” said Nita Farahany, futurist, technology ethicist and author of “The War for Your Brain.”
Big Tech wants to read your mind
Elon Musk’s Neuralink made headlines earlier this year when the company implanted a brain-computer interface (BCI) into its first human patient, but the company said on Thursday it had encountered some issues with the implant.
The Neuralink implant, which has more than 1,000 electrodes and 64 threads, experienced a malfunction after some threads were withdrawn from the brain and the number of effective electrodes decreased. In a blog post, the company said this will not negatively impact how the implant works.
Musk isn’t the only CEO trying to make neurotechnology a reality. At least 30 companies currently sell or develop neurotechnology.
For example, Apple has a patent for AirPods with EEG technology that measures brain activity. Given concerns about stagnating Apple’s iPhone sales, some investors are hoping the company will unveil exciting new products that will generate additional revenue.
Healthcare has long been a target for Apple. CEO Tim Cook laid out this strategy in 2019: “If you look to the future… and ask the question of what Apple’s greatest contribution to humanity is, it will be about health.”
Meta is another company that is funding a team of neuroscientists who are taking this research further to understand how humans process language.
In a study conducted by Meta’s Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) group, researchers displayed an image in front of participants for 1.5 seconds. Sitting in a neuroimaging machine, users thought about the image they saw, and artificial intelligence was able to use this brain activity data to reconstruct the image.
“Right now, this is not a mind-reading technology,” Jean-Rémi King, the lead neuroscientist working on the project, told Yahoo Finance. “What we can do is reconstruct the image they’re seeing at a particular moment, so we can actually unravel the perception.”
The results weren’t perfect, as seen in the image below, but they were close enough that the research team initially thought the test was flawed.
“The initial reaction was: Let’s try to figure out where there might be some errors that might explain the quality of these results,” King said.
King emphasized that the ultimate goal of his research is not consumer-facing products, and Meta said his goal is “to help people who have suffered traumatic brain injury communicate.”
But at the same time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made clear the company’s neurotechnology ambitions since 2021, when he unveiled an armband that uses electromyography to detect neural signals, allowing users to type and click on the screen with the subtlest hand movements.
“I think we’ll start getting some consumer neural interfaces soon,” Zuckerberg said in April. “I’m not talking about something that goes into your brain. I’m talking about something you wear on your wrist.”
privacy issue
At the heart of all this research and product development is one big question: What would our world look like if Big Tech companies could literally read your mind?
Noninvasive brain monitoring devices could be revolutionary in medicine for patients, but not everyone is excited about the possibility of Big Tech gaining access to people’s thoughts.
Neurorights advocates believe that our thoughts are the last piece of data we leave to ourselves. That’s why tech companies are fighting for a law that would protect mental privacy while continuing to fund brain scanning research.
Professor of biological sciences and neuroscience at Columbia University, Dr. “There are absolutely no regulations,” Rafael Yuste said. “It’s like the Wild West.”
After years of research, Yuste discovered a way to control the thoughts of mice using lasers. The experiment frightened him so much that he co-founded the Neurorights Foundation to protect his privacy.
And concerns about the privacy implications of neurotechnology are already driving policy change. In April, Colorado passed a bill expanding the state’s privacy law to include neural rights; This is the first of its kind in the United States. Similar legislation is on the table in states such as California and Minnesota.
“The only space we have for mental relaxation is actually our brain and our mental states,” Farahany said. “This is kind of the final piece of the puzzle.”
Farahany has a proposed framework for neurorights legislation that advocates greater privacy in general and “self-determination over our brains and mental experiences.”
According to Farahany, this will still allow patients who want or even need neurotechnology to have access to it.
As for Rodney, when I asked him via WhatsApp what he hopes the Stentrode device will achieve in the long term, he mused: “I hope it reaches more people.”
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