Brain-Computer Interfaces: The Leading Technology of the Future?
By: Coco Zhou
The thing that sets the human species apart from other animals are the tools that we use. Throughout history, humans have created brilliant inventions to make their lives easier, and this is all thanks to the human brain. It is the most complex organ in the body. Humans have even managed to invent machines that compute information faster than the brain, the computer.
But what happens if we could connect the human brain directly to a computer? A brain-computer interface or a BCI is a computer that interfaces directly with the human mind. I first heard about the existence of BCIs in the book, Warcross, by Marie Lu. I was immediately hooked on the idea of brain-computer interfaces. In the book, a company sold BCI contacts that were used for virtual reality gaming.
Upon further research, I realized that BCIs might be more imminent than I thought. There have been many successful attempts at creating BCIs. For example, in one research, a monkey controls a robotic arm using BCIs, Elon Musk founded a company, called Neuralink, to develop BCIs, and a study at the University of California used BCIs to produce images seen by cats. Some of these events happened as early as the 1970s!
There are three main types of BCIs. The first is called invasive BCIs. Invasive BCIs require implants in the brain itself. Non-invasive BCIs are BCIs that do not require an implant or surgery. They are usually wearable and cover the whole head. The effects of the signals are dampened by the skull. The third type of BCIs is called partially invasive BCIs. Partially invasive BCIs are implanted within the skull, not the brain.
So how can these technologies be implemented in the future? BCIs could be used in the medical field, space exploration, and gaming. Doctors could perform remote surgery, scientists could control and direct robots exploring space, and BCIs would change the experience of gaming completely. Instead of texting or calling others with phones, people could use direct mental connections to telepathically speak with each other. I’m sure I’m not the only one who dreamed of having superpowers, such as reading minds, and BCIs could integrate one of these superpowers into everyday reality.
A lot of people can’t see the change that technology has brought into our lives and the change that it will bring to us in the future. In 1996, the flip phone was invented. That was only 24 years from today! Now, mobile phones are a ubiquitous, everyday item. Before the flip phone, people couldn’t even grasp the possibility of the multiple uses that the phone would bring them. It’s almost scary how fast technologies are changing our world. Technologies are meant to make our lives easier, but what if tools such as brain-computer interfaces do more harm than good?
One of the main concerns of parents today is that children spend too much time with my eyes glued on a screen. Their phones are like an extension to their limbs; it’s always with them wherever they go. BCIs could blur the line between the virtual world and reality even more. With BCIs, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish the difference. Like we’re not already addicted enough to our phones. It would be opening another dimension of virtual reality to this world.
Back to the book I mentioned in the first part of this talk. Spoiler Alert: Someone used the brain-computer interfaces to hack into minds. The BCIs could be a gateway for hackers to exploit our brains. I’ve known friends who have caught viruses on their computers. The damage that could result from getting hacked through the BCIs would be much worse since it connects straight to the brain.
Technology is continuously growing, but it is just a tool that can be used in the wrong ways. For instance, although the main purpose of a car is for transportation, it also causes casualties during crashes. There are always going to be side effects to technological innovations. It is up to us to keep ourselves in check. The problems I listed are things that we can solve individually and prepare for together. We can restrain ourselves from getting too addicted to technology, and we need to implement better security on the BCIs. The brain-computer interface will be the next largest advancement in technology, and we must use them responsibly.