‘The Battle For Your Brain’: Duke expert discusses benefits and risks of neurotechnology
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Our cell phones track our steps, our watches measure our heart rate, and it seems like Alexa is always listening. Experts say you’ll soon see more wearable technology that interacts directly with our brains.
Nita Farahany is a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and an internationally known expert on the ethical and legal aspects of neurotechnology.
“Most people don’t realize that this is the future that has already arrived,” she stated. “Brain sensors are being embedded into earbuds and headphones, and even watches… and they pick up basic metrics like are you paying attention are you tired are you happy or sad.”
Some neurotechnology, like the Frenz Brainband, tracks brain waves to improve sleep or focus.
“If you’re not having a restful sleep as possible, it will give you sound that will try to calibrate your brain activity to put you back into a meditative state,” noted Farahany.
Other companies offer headsets and ear buds that use brain waves to measure states like interest, boredom and cognitive stress.
The devices, and other wearable technology that uses EEG can be purchased online.
“You can literally just order them. They already are out there on the marketplace,” said Farahany. “Other products are coming within the next year.”
Meta’s website shows a prototype, which is not yet on the market, that can pick up signals that travel from your brain to your wrist.
“It’s picking up the intention to swipe or type and AI decodes that; instead of having to type on a keyboard, you can type on a virtual keyboard,” Farahany explained.
She believes this type of technology can offer benefits for physical and mental health.
“Being able to track, accurately, your stress levels or track your cognitive fitness levels could be powerful insights that people could use to improve their brain health and wellness.”
Neurotechnology could also provide a way to communicate for people who can’t talk or type.
“An assistive device could be really powerful for people to be able to interact directly by thinking about doing so with their other technology,” Farahany said.
But, she’s concerned about certain uses of neurotechnology.
“There are already companies around the world that are using these neural technologies to track workers’ fatigue levels, track workers’ attention levels,” she noted. “And when employers can start to peer into your brain, not just your keystrokes, but literally your brain states, it becomes a much more Orwellian future where we’re suddenly subject to brain transparency and brain surveillance.”
She continued, “In China, there are classrooms where students are required to wear these headsets that track their attention levels. In real time, the teacher in the front of the classroom knows which kids are paying attention or which ones have their mind wandering.”
While reading brain waves is not the same as knowing specific thoughts, Farahany predicts that neurotechnology will quickly become more advanced and more common, which could lead to legal and ethical concerns. She explores the implications in her book, “The Battle For Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology.”
“I think it’s a whole new world,” Farahany stated. “The last fortress of privacy starts to crumble unless we put into place some measures that you have a right to privacy in respect what you’re thinking; you have a right to not be punished for your thoughts; you have a right to not have your thoughts manipulated by other people.”
She’s one of 24 experts across the world, appointed by UNESCO, working to create global ethical standards to guide the use of neurotechnology as it continues to develop.
“Neurotology is here; it’s growing,” she said. “Within the next couple of years, I expect there will be an explosion of products on the marketplace, and I think this will meet it where it is.”
She emphasized that it’s vital to establish safeguards as technology evolves and changes the way we interact with the world.
“Especially with the rise in all the powers of AI, people talking about the increasing merger between humans and AI, this is one of the ways in which that happens,” Farahany noted.
“As people increasingly integrate neurotology into their everyday lives, it starts to look far more like a different evolution of what it means to be human.”
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