The Download: AI “mind-reading” and creative uses for small batteries

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. An AI “mind-reading” tool can reconstruct what you’re looking at based on a brain scan A new AI tool can guess what you’re looking at just by analyzing your brai…

Résumé

AI mind-reading tool

A new AI tool can reconstruct what a person is looking at by analyzing their brain scans, and it can also predict brain activity based on visual input.

The technology uses brain scans (detailed images of brain activity, often created with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a machine that measures blood flow in the brain) to decode visual information.

Researchers demonstrated that the AI could recreate images with remarkable precision, such as reconstructing a photo of a person’s face or a simple object.

The tool could help scientists understand how the brain processes visual information, assist people who are locked-in (a condition where individuals are fully conscious but unable to move or communicate due to severe paralysis) in communicating, and even recreate the content of dreams.

However, experts warn that this technology might reveal people’s inner thoughts or mental images without their consent, raising ethical concerns about privacy and consent.