Scientists Build Mind-Reading Computer

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 2, 2008 @06:08AM from the strangely-all-the-male-results-looked-like-the-word-sex dept.

An anonymous reader writes to tell us that researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed what they are calling a "mind reading computer." Using a panel of nine volunteers, the team built a "profile" of 58 test words based on brain scans taken while the volunteers were directed to think about the meaning of each test word. "'If I show you the brain images for two words, the main thing you notice is that they look pretty much alike. If you look at them for a while you might see subtle differences,' explains Tom Mitchell of the Machine Learning Department, which lead the study. 'We believe we have identified a number of the basic building blocks that the brain uses to represent meaning. These building blocks could be used to predict patterns for any concrete noun,' added Mitchell."

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Re:well that doesn't work by CogDissident · 2008-06-02 07:20 · Score: 0, Troll

Most of this technology is going towards research for hands-off computing and assistance for people who are paralised. Actual mind-reading technology is a long way off. And I suspect it will always be easier to do with drugs and good old fashioned bush-sanctioned water boarding (to get information from people unwillingly).