AI Brain Chips Are a Serious Threat to Mental Privacy: UN

Certain thoughts are better left unshared.

Advancements in neurotechnology, particularly brain implants, and scans, could risk artificial intelligence intruding into the realm of private human thoughts, causing concern at the United Nations, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

As quoted by AFP, Mariagrazia Squicciarini, an economist from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, describes the situation as akin to “putting neurotech on steroids.”

As the field of neurotech evolves with advancements in artificial intelligence, some are advocating for careful consideration. The technology could have “profound and potentially harmful” effects, warns Gabriela Ramos, UNESCO’s assistant director general for social and human sciences, in a discussion with AFP.

Ramos said:

We are on a path to a world in which algorithms will enable us to decode people’s mental processes and directly manipulate the brain mechanisms underlying their intentions, emotions, and decisions.

UN officials imply that while the technology could potentially transform lives, it may also carry a hefty price. UNESCO conversed with Hannah Galvin, an epilepsy patient who had a neurotech device implanted in her brain to detect seizures and alert her to lie down.

However, the device only exacerbated Galvin’s condition. She reported experiencing up to 100 seizures daily, which triggered the device relentlessly.

Galvin, who later had the device removed, told UNESCO:

I felt like there was someone in my head, and it wasn’t me. And I just got more and more depressed. I didn’t like it at all.

However, according to AFP, Squicciarini mentions that the technology could be “extraordinary” for others, potentially enabling visually impaired individuals to see or those with paralysis to walk.

Sources: Business Insider, AFP