The general public need to be made aware of the uses of rapidly-advancing ‘thought-reading’ technologies, according to neuroscientists meeting in Birmingham today [25 July].
From determining consumer preferences to determining guilt in court cases, neuroimaging, which claims to interpret our inner-most thoughts, is already being employed in legal and commercial spheres.
Symposium speaker, Professor Hank Greely, Professor of Law at Stanford University, said: “This revolutionary technology has huge medical potential, but is also used more and more for ‘thought reading’ experiments by a wide range of non-medical users. I don’t think most people realise how extensive these uses have become. For example, in some countries, information from MRI has been offered as evidence in legal cases to decide, by looking at thought patterns, if the accused had ‘acted deliberately’ or ‘could not help themselves’, or was ‘lying’. The technology could even be used to predict criminal tendencies, such as intention to commit acts of terrorism.
“Other uses have included deciding on consumer preferences and aptitude for certain occupations. The field is moving very rapidly.”
Symposium organiser, Professor Joanna Wardlaw, Professor of Applied Neuroimaging at University of Edinburgh, said: “We are bringing together leading experts in the field to discuss the ethical and legal implications, commercial uses and the potential impacts on society.
“The public needs to be aware of what is happening so as to engage in an informed debate with neuroscientists, ethicists, lawyers, medics, to determine the acceptable limits of use of these new technologies. Otherwise the genuine scientific uses of MRI may fall into disrepute, or we may find MRI scanners being used at borders for security purposes, or by employers or in the legal system, all or any of which may be well outside the boundaries of reliable uses.”
ENDS