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Last month, a woman in Shanghai went to the police station to report that her classmates had used brainwave detection technology to steal her private information because they knew everything about what was going on in her head.
The picture comes from the Internet
The incident sparked a lot of discussion on the Internet, with some believing that the woman might have delusions of victimization, some believing that she might have been asked for private information while being hypnotized, and some mentioning the privacy of brainwave-related technology.
Are brain waves private?
Although the current technology is not yet able to wirelessly detect and accurately interpret the idea of the human brain, the technology has been evolving, and it may be possible in the future. Nowadays, there are some consumer-grade devices and services on the market, such as wearing a hat or headband, users can monitor their sleep, mood and other information.
In fact, there are already researchers who have turned silent thoughts into text from the human brain using existing consumer-grade devices and then using artificial intelligence models. Although the accuracy of AI in interpreting raw brainwaves needs to be improved, how the brainwave data generated by users is indeed a matter of concern.
The AI model reads out the subject's "thoughts" of wanting to drink coffee.
AI models can translate EEG signals into words and sentences by learning large amounts of EEG data.
Image source: University of Technology Sydney
Recently, the U.S. state of Colorado took the lead in legislating to protect the brainwave data generated by users when using consumer products. That said, just like fingerprints, facial recognition images, and other sensitive biometric data, users' neural data will be protected by privacy laws.
Proponents of the bill argue that the brain's neurological data can be used to understand sensitive information such as a person's mental health or physical condition, such as whether they have a medical condition such as epilepsy, which can lead to bias and discrimination.
Although the regulation is limited to related products in the consumer market, some consumer products now use medical-grade brain scanning devices, and in order to provide the corresponding services, these devices will obtain a lot of data from users, but this data privacy issue has not been widely discussed and taken seriously.
Non-invasive way to obtain brain waves
The electrical signals produced by many organs in our body can be detected and measured by various techniques, such as the well-known electrocardiogram, which reflects the electrical currents in the heart, and the electroencephalography (EEG) can detect the electrical signals of neurons in the brain through electrodes. Detected weak signals are amplified and recorded and then displayed as a waveform. By analyzing characteristics such as the frequency and amplitude of the graph, brain activity and condition can be assessed.
Normal EEG (left), EEG during seizure (right).
图片来源：Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care
In a study released late last year at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia, 29 participants wore a "hat" with sensors that could record brain activity and then quietly read something silently in their minds. The resulting brain signals are interpreted by the AI model and converted into text and displayed on a large screen.
In this regard, some neuroscientists say that brain activity is an encrypted signal, and language models provide a way to decipher it. Although the accuracy of this study is only about 40%, it is still significant as a first in this field. Since this technology is non-invasive, it is relatively low cost and also convenient to use and carry.
Image source: uts.edu.au
Non-invasive methods of brain activity detection are generally performed by placing electrodes on the scalp, so EEG headsets are arguably the most common models we usually see. And last year, it was reported that Apple was developing headphones with built-in EEG scanners. The new generation of AirPods, equipped with electrodes, can measure a variety of biological signals through the human ear, including the user's brain activity.
Users may need to customize it to their ears. Image source: patentlyapple.com
Practitioners speculate that in addition to enhancing user experience and health monitoring, Apple's technology may also contribute to the development of brain-computer interfaces. In the future, users may be able to turn their thoughts directly into text and speech on their phones.
Brain-computer interface (BCI) or BMI refers to the direct communication path established between the brain and external devices (computers or robotic arms, etc.). According to the way EEG signals are collected, brain-computer interfaces can be broadly divided into non-invasive and invasive.
Invasive access to brain signals
Compared to the non-invasive techniques mentioned above, invasive techniques that surgically implant acquisition electrodes in the brain can obtain more accurate signals of brain activity. In this field, the company that is currently getting the most attention should be Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink.
图片来源：Neuralink, the tesla space
At the end of January, Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old patient paralyzed from the shoulder down, underwent surgery to implant a coin-sized Neuralink wireless chip into his skull of the brain. Based on this, he can control the mouse cursor with his mind and play chess and video games.
Wireless brain chip, image source: Neuralink
Neuralink's first-in-human trial caused a huge stir, but it also faced some controversy, such as critics arguing that the trial lacked transparency. In 2021, Neuralink's experiment of letting monkeys play games with their minds also sparked controversy, with reports of animals being euthanized after suffering from health problems such as brain hemorrhage, cerebral edema, and partial paralysis.
In the subsequent stage of the experiment, the monkey will still control the gamepad out of habit, but at this time the plug of the controller has been unplugged, at this time, it is actually through the implanted brain chip, using consciousness to control the cursor on the screen.
Image courtesy of Neuralink
Two days ago, Neuralink was exposed to some problems with the brain implant of the first human trial patient, resulting in a decrease in the number of effective electrodes and a decrease in functional effectiveness. The company then said the issue was resolved, but said they were also considering removing the implant from the patient's brain.
Although BCI technology is still questionable and controversial, and the current cutting-edge technology is still in the laboratory development stage, the technology has a promising application and may lead to breakthrough treatments, such as those who cannot speak due to diseases such as stroke, cerebral palsy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
With the help of brain-computer interfaces and AI, Ann Johnson, who was severely paralyzed by a stroke and unable to speak, was able to communicate with his family again.
Image credit: University of California, San Francisco
"But we think there should be some guardrails for people who don't intend their ideas to be read and their biodata to be used." said Congressman Cathy Kipp, who is proposing to protect neural data as privacy.
For ordinary people, it is good that the privacy of personal neural data can be valued and protected, but it seems a little too early to worry about the private thoughts in your head being stolen and decoded by brainwave technology.
Resources:
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