Scientists Unveil AI That Can Turn Thoughts Into Written Text

University of Texas Researchers Unveil Revolutionary AI System

Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have developed an incredible system that uses artificial intelligence to transform a person’s brain activity into written words. This breakthrough technology is noninvasive and does not require surgical implants.

How It Works

The team of academics, led by computer science doctoral student Jerry Tang and assistant professor Alex Huth, used a model similar to the one which serves as the basis of ChatGPT to turn brain activity released while “listening to a story or silently imagining telling a story” into a “continuous stream of text.”

The decoder learns how to translate an individual’s thoughts as he or she listens to podcasts and the system concurrently measures brain activity with an fMRI scanner. The decoder then produces text meant to mirror the intended meaning of the individual’s thoughts rather than a word-for-word transcript of the exact words which enter the individual’s brain.

Researchers added that the system, which was described in a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience, could not decode words for participants who had not willingly trained the system or who intentionally sought to defy the system.

Implications

The system has implications for stroke victims and other individuals who are conscious but unable to speak physically, although the current version relies upon an fMRI machine and is therefore impractical for use outside of a laboratory.

Leading corporations and investors have poured considerable funds into developing AI tools meant for consumer products and business solutions over the past several months. Microsoft, which invested billions of dollars into ChatGPT creator OpenAI, announced that the system would be incorporated into the search engine Bing and internet browser Edge, allowing users to more easily locate information. Google likewise revealed that Bard, an experimental conversational AI service, would soon be added to the company’s search engine.

The semantic decoder study was published as medical researchers in the United Kingdom unveiled an AI tool which can improve predictions of whether a nodule will develop cancer, thereby helping physicians to identify the disease far earlier than current methods.

Concerns

Some analysts have raised concerns of possible widespread technological employment even as the novel AI applications create productivity increases for workers and businesses. One recent forecast from Goldman Sachs predicted that AI could eliminate 7% of positions in the United States, largely in sectors that rely upon office work such as administrative support and legal, while positions in sectors such as building and grounds maintenance, construction, logistics, and healthcare support are predicted to remain broadly intact.