Meet the machine that reads minds - and displays images of them

Scientists have managed to train a system that identifies who you are thinking and displays the face on the big screen (with a margin of error)



The scientific formula to read minds was ever discovered: it mixes MRIs of the brain and artificial intelligence. The first system able to identify patterns of thought and decode them to form an image on a screen already exists - but is not there yet very reliable.

The machine is the brainchild of researchers at the University of Oregon. They wanted to find out if it was possible to extract information from one part of the brain responsible for memory formation, called the angular gyrus. They took the opportunity to test whether the equipment could decode the activity of ociptotemporal cortex, which processes what we see.

For this, they selected over a thousand photos, which were shown to volunteers while undergoing an MRI. Then came the artificial intelligence that decoded brain activity in these two areas of the brain and tried to reconstruct the face that was being viewed by displaying the image on a screen. The results were, frankly, quite strange:



Can you see similarities between the original models and some readings, but the system still lags far behind a sketch done well. Still, the technology's potential is huge.

Artificial intelligence has been trained to look at a human face and see some main features, each associated with a number. After analyzing various resonances, the system can identify the pattern of brain activity that appears when we see each of these numbered features. At the stage of the experiment, the machine could now only based on resonance, create a template with the physical attributes that it identified in the brains of volunteers.



The most interesting part - and frightening - the experiment was the second step. Instead of showing a picture to the volunteers, the researchers asked them to imagine one of the pictures of stock photography. Thus, the machine had to be able to identify a face only from the participant's memories, with no visual stimulus. For statistical analysis, the researchers realized that the success of the machine was higher than if she had just mounted a random face - in practice, it was, yes, decoding sectors of memory.


Closing the study, the researchers showed only the faces reconstructed by the system to a new group of volunteers. They needed to answer simple questions about the person shown in the image: gender, ethnicity and whether she was happy or sad at the time the photo. And it was a success: without ever seeing the original photo or speak to the observer, unknown could set the mood and color of a person's skin based only on the information that a computer pulled, direct in her memory.

Researchers confirm that we are watching a science fiction theme become a reality: the principle of mind reading is there, what is lacking for argoritmo are many hours of training. Greater precision requires the brain of a person "teach" the system as it processes up to 20,000 faces - is difficult to find someone willing to spend as much time followed within an MRI machine.

Fortunately, even if the machine is able to convey thoughts to perfection, it is difficult for her to read minds against the will of the victim. "You can not extract a memory unless the person is remembering it. Most of the time, people have it under control," said Brice Kuhl, one of the authors. Kylo Ren will have to continue using the Force in their interrogations.