Ethics, Safety, And Security Concerns

[weamy]

What I mean is basically that because this is done non-invasively, there are no cables, which means it is going to send its signals "wirelessly". Everything that is wireless is pretty much a signal, and can be extended.

 

That is a very good point. I can't give any solutions as I don't know much about signals and computing.

[CraigD]

What I mean is basically that because this is done non-invasively, there are no cables, which means it is going to send its signals "wirelessly". Everything that is wireless is pretty much a signal, and can be extended.

Because of our familiarity with radio communication, I can see how we’re inclined to believe “everything wireless is a signal and can be extended”, but it’s important to understand that brain imaging and stimulating – “reading” and “writing” – isn’t radio or any other kind (with a notable exception – see below) of wireless communication. Brain imaging is radiology and microscopy, which has very limited range which can’t be easily or much extended.

 

So I don’t think we need worry much about people hacking our nervous systems from a distance. A much more likely threat, I think, would be ordinary hacking of the computer system to which a brain-computer or other virtual reality interface is connected. As present-day VR systems can’t hurt us, this isn’t much of a worry, but if, as I hope they will, VR systems improve, someday they will be able to, and good security for them will become important. As I’ve mentioned upthread, I don’t think such security is an insurmountably difficult problem, so not a cause for much long-term worry.

 

The notable exception I mention above to brain imaging and stimulation not being any kind of wireless communication comes from the young field of optogenetics, which allows reading and writing to individual neurons using visible light. We’ve discussed optogenetics in many threads of this subforum – I think this post is informative.