The combination of breakthrough advances in neurotechnology such as brain implants and artificial intelligence pose a threat to individuals’ intellectual secrecy, Unesco warned Thursday.
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The UN Agency for Science and Culture is working on a global “ethical framework” to protect human rights in the face of neurotechnology, it announced during a conference on the subject at its headquarters in Paris.
The goal of neurotechnology is to connect electronic devices to the nervous system to treat neurological disorders and restore functions related to movement, communication, vision or hearing.
This discipline has recently benefited from advances in artificial intelligence (AI), whose algorithms can process data in unprecedented ways, explained Mariagrazia Squicciarini, an economist at Unesco specializing in AI.
For Gabriela Ramos, the agency’s deputy director-general for social and human sciences, this convergence is “far-reaching and potentially damaging”.
“We are on a path where algorithms will allow us to decode people’s mental processes and directly manipulate the brain mechanisms underlying their intentions, emotions and decisions,” she said at the conference.
Last May, American scientists reported the development of a “speech decoder” that converts a person’s thoughts into writing after training the brain for hours on an MRI (Resonance Imaging Magnetic).
Also in May, billionaire Elon Musk’s company, Neuralink, received US approval to test its coin-sized brain implants on humans.
Mr Musk, who says his number one goal is to ensure humans aren’t dominated by AI, launched his own artificial intelligence company, xAI, on Wednesday.
Ms. Squicciarini stressed that neurotechnology is not inherently bad. This is evident in efforts to restore sight to a visually impaired person or to enable a paralyzed lower extremity to walk. However, this progress must be accompanied by ethical safeguards.
Investments in neurotechnology companies doubled between 2010 and 2020, reaching $33.2 billion (€29.73 billion), according to a UNESCO report co-signed by Ms. Squicciarini.
The number of patents for neurotechnology devices doubled between 2015 and 2020. This market is expected to reach $24.2 billion in 2027.