Mind Reading Computers

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University created yet another machine that sounds like it came straight out of a science fiction story: a computer that can read minds. It isn't quite as awesome or terrifying as it sounds. It only recognizes brain patterns associated with specific words, and rather than being used for nefarious purposes, scientists hope it will shed some light on how the brain stores information and even help in the treatment of learning disabilities.

The scientists trained the computer with nine volunteers, who thought about the meanings and properties of 58 specific words. The researchers took brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging while the volunteers thought about these words. The researchers believed these 58 words represented basic building blocks that the brain uses to represent meaning and that These building blocks could be used to predict patterns for any concrete noun, according to Tom Mitchell of the Machine Learning Department, the lead group involved in the project.

As a test, the researchers gave the computer two new words and images after it had been taught by the volunteers, and asked it to match them correctly. It did. The team hopes to move on to studying brain activity for phrases, but notes there are certain challenges to this kind of research. "It can be hard to focus. Somewhere in the middle of that their stomach growls. And all of sudden they think, 'I'm hungry - oops.' It's not a controllable experiment," Mitchell explains
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