The Neural Revolution Is Almost Here. Should We Fear It? | Articles | Chief Data Officer – Innovation Enterprise

In September 2019, it became known that Facebook bought the developer of neural interfaces CTRL-Labs. Google Glasses are compatible with the NeuroSky EEG biosensor through the open-source MindRDR application. In July 2019, Elon Musk's startup introduced the revolutionary Neuralink brain-machine interface claiming to start the trans-human evolution.

All these pieces of news indicate the direction the industry is heading to. Internet companies that receive their main profit from showing targeted advertising try to take into account the interests of their users. To determine these interests, they massively collect data, tracking the user's actions on the web, building profiles and social graphs, monitoring messages, calls, physical movements, shopping carts, contact lists. But it seems this is not enough for them.

So far, EEG scanners and implants have very limited functionality, but this technology is developing rapidly. Based on the results of a brain activity scan, it is already possible to recognize basic emotions, some unspoken words, and mental attempts to make physical movements. Scientists have found similarities in how different peoples brains process information. It is now possible to make assumptions about a persons thoughts based on his or her brains neural activity.

Medical brain-computer interfaces should help people regain control of their limbs or control prostheses. Inexpensive headsets are positioned as relaxation tools or entertainment gadgets. However, companies have already begun experimenting with EEGs to evaluate the performance of advertising campaigns.

Facebook and startups like Neuralink are developing a new generation of neurotechnology tools and making bold promises. For example, Facebook promises to let people type by simply imagining themselves talking, and Elon Musk anticipates the merger of the human brain with AI.

On September 10, 2019, the Royal Society of London published a 106-page report on the future and risks of neurotechnology. It predicted that a neural revolution" will happen in the coming decades.

Brain-computer devices generate a huge amount of neural data potentially one of the most sensitive forms of personal information. And the main problem is how this brain data will be commercialized. Advertisers are already using confidential information about people's preferences, habits, and locations. Adding neural data to the mix will seriously increase the threat to privacy.

Getting data directly from the brain will be a real paradigm shift. If Facebook, for example, combines neural data with its extensive collection of personal data, then it can create much more accurate and comprehensive psychographic profiles.

Experts say that for now, there are almost no legal obstacles to prevent companies from trading neural profiles.

Neuromarketing is a new industry in marketing research that uses brain scans to know consumers better than they know themselves. Neuromarketers clearly promise to exploit neural profiles commercially.

By non-invasively recording the bioelectrical activity of the brain (electroencephalography), neuro marketers monitor the brain's response to viewing ads. In the future, they hope that this technology will also allow tracking brain activity while using applications, communicating on the Internet, watching movies and TV shows. This will help to maximize the effectiveness of advertising (and, perhaps, other methods of influencing people.)

It is already clear that such technologies will be used not only in the advertising industry. In arecent interview, Edward Snowden explained that technology giants are tools in the hands of even more powerful players: We see how authoritarianism is growing all over the world, and the reality is that all of them are parts of the same threat. These companies function as weapons in the hands of governments. Its too easy to say that tech giants are a real threat; in reality, all of them are part of the same threat the system.

Snowden pointed out that it is better to use WhatsApp rather than simple unencrypted SMS, but it is still not a good idea to use WhatsApp if you are a prime minister and wish to communicate with your staff. For now, you can encrypt and hide your communication if you usevirtual private networks. Withbrain-computer interfaces, it is impossible to encrypt neural signals inside your brain.

Ethics experts also fear that information from the brain may be potentially used for discrimination. For example, if there are patterns of brain activity similar to patterns observed in drug addicts or people suffering from depression or other diseases, perhaps, on the basis of such patterns, employers will refuse to hire people. In addition, insurance companies could raise premiums and banks offer loans on less favorable terms.

The future we are striving for is a world in which our neural data, which we do not even have access to, can be used against us. For now, our thoughts are the last frontier of the defense in the war for privacy. It is sad, but all previous battles have been unconditionally lost.

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The Neural Revolution Is Almost Here. Should We Fear It? | Articles | Chief Data Officer - Innovation Enterprise