Mind Uploading

Mind uploading is defined by Wikipedia as “the hypothetical process of scanning and mapping a biological brain in detail and copying its state into a computer system or another computational device.” The Society of Neural Prosthetics and Whole Brain Emulation Science defines a neural prosthetic as a “replacement for or augmentation of a function or component of the nervous system in general, and of the human brain in particular.” This definition would then also include already existing technology, such as cochlear implants. Randal A. Koene from this society describe the process of mind uploading as involving “freezing a brain, slicing it up, examining the slices under a microscope, and reconstructing the neurons, synapses and most of the major components that would be deemed functionally imperative.” This explanation makes the entire concept seems within an arm’s reach. They also compare the complexity of this process to that of mapping the human genome, which also makes it seem very feasible (since mapping the human genome was already accomplished). I think that, in reality, this technology is still in the distant future. Still, there is so much interest and ongoing research!

While reading some forums on KurzweilAI.net, I came across a downloadable program with the following description: "Human moves mouse to control real time generated music which artificial intelligence (AI) changes to try to control Human's hand on mouse. AI translates music problems to programming problems, organizing Humans unconsciously through internet to build AI." The program tries to control your mouse movements. It seems to work, but it is difficult to distinguish if it is truly working, or if I think it is working because I know what the program is trying to accomplish. It would be an interesting experiment to try this program on a few people who don’t know what the program is supposed to do. Still, it is an interesting concept that relies on the very basis of human nature and its predictability.

Zogby International polled 10,000 US adults on the following question: "How likely would you be to implant a device into your brain that enabled you to use your mind to access the internet if it could be done safely?" To my surprise, 11% of respondents said they were very or somewhat likely to do so. That is 1,100 people who are willing to allow access to their brain in return for instant information! The debate with “mind upload” lies in the fact that if you can access information or upload information with your mind, what keeps others from being able to access or even alter your mind at the same time. This could turn into the future of identity theft. Even now, we have not been able to stop identity theft. In the future, identity theft could become an even more dangerous issue.

Another issue with mind uploading becomes whether or not we could then “run” more than one copy of a brain at the same time. Perhaps it would be possible to experience two different things at once, and then upload that information back to the original mind. This would bring about an entirely different issue of alternate realities and the possibility of being able to clone your brain to be in two places at once.

The feasibility of such technologies is still in question. It is interesting to read other people's perspective on the issue. One post says that we are about 20 years away from having the ability to upload to or download from a human brain, but in his opinion ethical and legal concerns will push it back much further. However, technological progress in this area is advancing quickly. Adam Wilson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineering doctoral student, used an electroencephalogram with an on screen keyboard to translate human thoughts into Twitter posts. The device requires the person to look at the keyboard that is on screen, and it goes through each key and is able to recognize when the person selects a certain key. While this research is still a long way from “mind uploading,” it does give feasibility to idea of controlling a computer with inputs from our minds.

In May 2005, the Brain and Mind Institute of the École Polytechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland founded The Blue Brain Project. The purpose of this project is to study the mammalian brain's architectural and functional principles down to the molecular level in an attempt to shed light on the issue of consciousness. Their long term goal is to build a functional simulation of the physiological processes of the brain. The director of the project, Henry Markram, says: "It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years... If we build it correctly it should speak and have an intelligence and behave very much as a human does."