Artificial Intelligence (AI) reading human thoughts might soon be a reality. Scientists have developed an AI model that can decode human thoughts and convert it into text using technology similar to that of ChatGPT.

Mind-reading with AI: Unlocking superhuman abilities

Yu Takagi, a neuroscientist from Japan discovered that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can decode brain activity into readable format. This sparked a wave of concern among top tech leaders like Elon Musk who are calling for a pause on the development of AI. Takagi, an assistant professor at Osaka University who used a Germany-developed deep learning AI model to analyse the brain was in a state of disbelief when he saw AI decoding a subject’s brain activity.&nbsp;

“I still remember when I saw the first [AI-generated] images,” Takagi told Al Jazeera.

Takagi and his team used Stable Diffusion (SD), a deep-learning AI model developed in Germany in 2022. It helps in analysing the brain scans of subjects, showing up to 10,000 images while inside an MRI machine.&nbsp;

Earlier, this kind of AI-powered brain reading was seen in sci-fi movies where a scientist using a machine can decode the subject’s brain activity. Such is no more a movie now, rather can become a tangible reality.&nbsp; 
Takagi himself went ‘crazy’ when he discovered this. He said, “I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and saw my face, and thought, ‘Okay, that’s normal. Maybe I’m not going crazy “

<h2>Can AI really read minds?</h2>

Takagi and his research partner Shinji Nishimoto built a simple model to ‘translate’ brain activity into readable format. The Stable Diffusion was able to generate high-fidelity images that strangely look like the originals. What was more shocking was that the AI did this despite not being shown the pictures in advance or trained in any way to manufacture the results.

AI is generally fed by all the large amounts of data first and then intelligent algorithms are used to allow the software to learn automatically from patterns or features in the data.&nbsp;

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“We really didn’t expect this kind of result,” Takagi said.

Takagi stressed that the breakthrough does not represent mind-reading at this point. He made it clear that AI can only produce images a person has viewed.&nbsp;

“This is not mind-reading,” Takagi said. “Unfortunately there are many misunderstandings with our research.”

“We can’t decode imaginations or dreams; we think this is too optimistic. But, of course, there is potential in the future.”

<h2>Why tech giants are concerned?</h2>

This development has nonetheless raised concerns about how such technology could be used amid a border debate about the risks posed by AI in general.&nbsp;

Last month, tech leaders like Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wrote an open letter, calling for a pause on the development of AI due to “profound risks to society and humanity”.

Takagi himself accepted that fears around mind-reading technology are not without merit, given the possibility of misuse by those with malicious intent.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: Is AI going to replace your brain?

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“For us, privacy issues are the most important thing. If a government or institution can read people’s minds, it’s a very sensitive issue,” Takagi said. “There need to be high-level discussions to make sure this can’t happen.”

Takagi and Nishimoto’s research generated much buzz in the tech community, which has been electrified by breakneck advancements in AI, including the release of ChatGPT, which produces human-like speech in response to a user’s prompts.

Takagi and Nishimoto’s study was accepted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), set for June 2023. It is a common source for legitimizing significant breakthroughs in science. Even so, both are cautious about getting carried away about their findings.&nbsp;

<h2>We are still decades away from actual AI mind reading</h2>

Takagi believes that there are two major roadblocks to genuine mind reading, brain-scanning technology and AI itself.&nbsp;

Despite advancements in neural interfaces, like Electroencephalography (EEG) brain computers, which detect brain waves via electrodes connected to a subject’s head and fMRI, scientists believe we could be decades away from being able to accurately and reliably decode imagined visual experiences.&nbsp;

In Takagi and Nishimoto’s research, subjects had to sit in an fMRI scanner for up to 40 hours, which was costly as well as time-consuming.

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In a 2021 paper, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology noted that conventional neural interfaces “lack chronic recording stability’ due to the soft and complex nature of neural tissue, which reacts in unusual ways when brought into contact with synthetic interfaces.&nbsp;

<h2>Such AI experiments have little practical application in current times</h2>

Though Takagi and Nishimoto’s framework could be used with brain-scanning devices other than MRI, such as EEG, but it has little practical application for such an experiment.&nbsp;

The method cannot yet be transferred to novel subjects because the shape of the brain differs among individuals. One cannot directly apply a model created for one person to another.&nbsp;

According to Takagi, such experiments can only be useful in clinical, communication or even entertainment fields.&nbsp;

Still, Takagi and his partner have no intention of slowing down their research. They are already planning version two of their project, which will focus on improving the technology and applying it to other modalities. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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Yu Takagi, a neuroscientist from Japan discovered that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can decode brain activity into readable format. This sparked a wave of concern among top tech leaders like Elon Musk who are calling for a pause on the development of AI.

Yu Takagi, a neuroscientist from Japan discovered that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can decode brain activity into readable format. This sparked a wave of concern among top tech leaders like Elon Musk who are calling for a pause on the development of AI. Takagi, an assistant professor at Osaka University who used a Germany-developed deep learning AI model to analyse the brain was in a state of disbelief when he saw AI decoding a subject’s brain activity. “I still remember when I saw the first [AI-generated] images,” Takagi told Al Jazeera. Takagi and his team used Stable Diffusion (SD), a deep-learning AI model developed in Germany in 2022. It helps in analysing the brain scans of subjects, showing up to 10,000 images while inside an MRI machine. Earlier, this kind of AI-powered brain reading was seen in sci-fi movies where a scientist using a machine can decode the subject’s brain activity. Such is no more a movie now, rather can become a tangible reality. Takagi himself went ‘crazy’ when he discovered this. He said, “I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and saw my face, and thought, ‘Okay, that’s normal. Maybe I’m not going crazy “ Can AI really read minds? Takagi and his research partner Shinji Nishimoto built a simple model to ‘translate’ brain activity into readable format. The Stable Diffusion was able to generate high-fidelity images that strangely look like the originals. What was more shocking was that the AI did this despite not being shown the pictures in advance or trained in any way to manufacture the results. AI is generally fed by all the large amounts of data first and then intelligent algorithms are used to allow the software to learn automatically from patterns or features in the data. Also Read | Australia: Cafe hires 11-year-olds sparks criticism over minimum age for workers “We really didn’t expect this kind of result,” Takagi said. Takagi stressed that the breakthrough does not represent mind-reading at this point. He made it clear that AI can only produce images a person has viewed. “This is not mind-reading,” Takagi said. “Unfortunately there are many misunderstandings with our research.” “We can’t decode imaginations or dreams; we think this is too optimistic. But, of course, there is potential in the future.” Why tech giants are concerned? This development has nonetheless raised concerns about how such technology could be used amid a border debate about the risks posed by AI in general. Last month, tech leaders like Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wrote an open letter, calling for a pause on the development of AI due to “profound risks to society and humanity”. Takagi himself accepted that fears around mind-reading technology are not without merit, given the possibility of misuse by those with malicious intent. Watch | Gravitas: Is AI going to replace your brain? × “For us, privacy issues are the most important thing. If a government or institution can read people’s minds, it’s a very sensitive issue,” Takagi said. “There need to be high-level discussions to make sure this can’t happen.” Takagi and Nishimoto’s research generated much buzz in the tech community, which has been electrified by breakneck advancements in AI, including the release of ChatGPT, which produces human-like speech in response to a user’s prompts. Takagi and Nishimoto’s study was accepted to the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), set for June 2023. It is a common source for legitimizing significant breakthroughs in science. Even so, both are cautious about getting carried away about their findings. We are still decades away from actual AI mind reading Takagi believes that there are two major roadblocks to genuine mind reading, brain-scanning technology and AI itself. Despite advancements in neural interfaces, like Electroencephalography (EEG) brain computers, which detect brain waves via electrodes connected to a subject’s head and fMRI, scientists believe we could be decades away from being able to accurately and reliably decode imagined visual experiences. In Takagi and Nishimoto’s research, subjects had to sit in an fMRI scanner for up to 40 hours, which was costly as well as time-consuming. Also Read | Two US teens claim they have a new proof for Pythagoras' theorem In a 2021 paper, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology noted that conventional neural interfaces “lack chronic recording stability’ due to the soft and complex nature of neural tissue, which reacts in unusual ways when brought into contact with synthetic interfaces. Such AI experiments have little practical application in current times Though Takagi and Nishimoto’s framework could be used with brain-scanning devices other than MRI, such as EEG, but it has little practical application for such an experiment. The method cannot yet be transferred to novel subjects because the shape of the brain differs among individuals. One cannot directly apply a model created for one person to another. According to Takagi, such experiments can only be useful in clinical, communication or even entertainment fields. Still, Takagi and his partner have no intention of slowing down their research. They are already planning version two of their project, which will focus on improving the technology and applying it to other modalities. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

AI can now read minds, Japanese scientists' experiment sparks ethical debate

China seems to have taken a massive leap in robotics as a group of scientists claimed to have built a robot that can read people's minds with 96 per cent accuracy.

The developers at China Three Gorges University’s Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Technology Centre tested the robot at an assembly factory, reports&nbsp;Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post.

The industrial robot not only monitored the worker’s brain waves, but also collected electric signals from muscles, as it worked seamlessly together to assemble a complex product, the developers said.

The robot was able to instantly read the co-worker’s brain waves without the latter saying anything and was able to pick up a tool and put it on the workstation, according to the developers.

“In modern industrial manufacturing, assembly work accounts for 45 per cent of the total workload, and 20-30 per cent of the total production cost,” project lead scientist Dong Yuanfa and his co-researchers said in a paper published in domestic peer-reviewed journal China Mechanical Engineering.

Collaborative robots, or “cobots”, could accelerate the pace of an assembly line, but their application remained limited because “their ability to recognise human intention is often inaccurate and unstable”, the paper said.

Dong said his robot was put through “hundreds of hours of training” by volunteers, which included assembly line workers carefully putting together a product.

The robot reportedly followed commands of the workers 70 per cent of the time but did need volunteers to “concentrate very hard” for the brain message to be read.

Many of them grew too distracted due to the repetitive nature of their thoughts.

The paper noted that further tests would be needed to establish whether the technology could be used in an actual factory, as all tests so far had been conducted in a lab.

(With inputs from agencies)

China seems to have taken a massive leap in robotics as a group of scientists claimed to have built a robot that can read people's minds with 96 per cent accuracy.

China seems to have taken a massive leap in robotics as a group of scientists claimed to have built a robot that can read people's minds with 96 per cent accuracy. The developers at China Three Gorges University’s Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Technology Centre tested the robot at an assembly factory, reports Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post. The industrial robot not only monitored the worker’s brain waves, but also collected electric signals from muscles, as it worked seamlessly together to assemble a complex product, the developers said. The robot was able to instantly read the co-worker’s brain waves without the latter saying anything and was able to pick up a tool and put it on the workstation, according to the developers. “In modern industrial manufacturing, assembly work accounts for 45 per cent of the total workload, and 20-30 per cent of the total production cost,” project lead scientist Dong Yuanfa and his co-researchers said in a paper published in domestic peer-reviewed journal China Mechanical Engineering. Collaborative robots, or “cobots”, could accelerate the pace of an assembly line, but their application remained limited because “their ability to recognise human intention is often inaccurate and unstable”, the paper said. Dong said his robot was put through “hundreds of hours of training” by volunteers, which included assembly line workers carefully putting together a product. The robot reportedly followed commands of the workers 70 per cent of the time but did need volunteers to “concentrate very hard” for the brain message to be read. Many of them grew too distracted due to the repetitive nature of their thoughts. The paper noted that further tests would be needed to establish whether the technology could be used in an actual factory, as all tests so far had been conducted in a lab. (With inputs from agencies)

Chinese scientists build robot that can read mind with 96% accuracy: Report

Facebook is now developing a tool to read people’s minds. No, this isn’t an extrapolation. The social media giant, which is currently under fire from regulators around the world is developing a neural sensor to detect people’s thoughts, and to convert them into action.

On Tuesday, the company also announced plans to come up with a tool which would summarise news articles for readers without reading any.

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The announcements were in Facebook’s end-of-year company meeting. Facebook has been mired with controversies about user data, growing employee discontent, and multiple lawsuits in the world.

BuzzFeed news reported that it was able to obtain the audio clips of the company meetings, where such plans were discussed.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/facebook-closes-fake-accounts-linked-to-french-military-and-russia-350035" hreflang="en">Facebook closes fake accounts linked to French military and Russia</a> 
 
The meeting was laden with pre-recorded messages by key figures at Facebook, many of whom referred to 2020 as a trying year given the pandemic.

Facebook and other social media giants have been put under the watchful eye of governments for doing little to counter fake news about the virus, and in the recently concluded presidential elections in the United States. 
 
The company, during the address claimed to have added 20,000 people to its workforce. Owing to the pandemic, the company saw record usage this year. 
 
During the meeting, Facebook focused on the company’s interest and commitment to artificial intelligence, with an official claiming that new systems would allow AI to run 30 times faster and to even train itself!

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/technology/facebook-launches-collab-as-tiktoks-competition-349987" hreflang="en">Facebook launches 'Collab' as TikTok's competition</a>

Schroepfer added that AI is the key too in battling hate speech, misinformation, and content related issues. According to him, Facebook is now able to detect 95 per cent of all hate speech on the platform.

Currently, the company is caught up in antitrust lawsuit in the United States, while Australia is forcing Facebook to pay journalists for news content. In addition, the European Union is also clamping down on social media giants.

Facebook is now developing a tool to read people’s minds. No, this isn’t an extrapolation. The social media giant, which is currently under fire from regulators around the world is developing a neural sensor to detect people’s thoughts, and to convert them into action.

Facebook is now developing a tool to read people’s minds. No, this isn’t an extrapolation. The social media giant, which is currently under fire from regulators around the world is developing a neural sensor to detect people’s thoughts, and to convert them into action. On Tuesday, the company also announced plans to come up with a tool which would summarise news articles for readers without reading any. The announcements were in Facebook’s end-of-year company meeting. Facebook has been mired with controversies about user data, growing employee discontent, and multiple lawsuits in the world. BuzzFeed news reported that it was able to obtain the audio clips of the company meetings, where such plans were discussed. Also read: Facebook closes fake accounts linked to French military and Russia The meeting was laden with pre-recorded messages by key figures at Facebook, many of whom referred to 2020 as a trying year given the pandemic. Facebook and other social media giants have been put under the watchful eye of governments for doing little to counter fake news about the virus, and in the recently concluded presidential elections in the United States. The company, during the address claimed to have added 20,000 people to its workforce. Owing to the pandemic, the company saw record usage this year. During the meeting, Facebook focused on the company’s interest and commitment to artificial intelligence, with an official claiming that new systems would allow AI to run 30 times faster and to even train itself! Also read: Facebook launches 'Collab' as TikTok's competition Schroepfer added that AI is the key too in battling hate speech, misinformation, and content related issues. According to him, Facebook is now able to detect 95 per cent of all hate speech on the platform. Currently, the company is caught up in antitrust lawsuit in the United States, while Australia is forcing Facebook to pay journalists for news content. In addition, the European Union is also clamping down on social media giants.

Soon, Facebook will be able to read your mind

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