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To Tell The Truth: There may be no honor among thieves, but can't we find it even in a few good men and women?
Should The Human Brain Retire?: We know that we cannot win forever. We know that machines will continue to improve. So why don't we let the human brain retire gracefully now, with honors?
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Published: Sep 16, 2005 01:41 PM
Mon - October 13, 2003
Monkey See, Robot Do
- Project leader Miguel Nicolelis says the monkeys appeared to be treating the robot arm as their limb, not an extension. "The properties of the robot were being assimilated as if they were a property of the animal's own body."
The task involved using a joystick to move a cursor on a computer screen. While the monkey was doing this, readings were taken from a few hundred neurons in the frontal and parietal regions of the brain. The activation of the biceps and wrist muscles was monitored, as was the velocity of the arms and the force of the grip.
Once the neuronal model had developed an accurate level of prediction the researchers switched the control of the cursor from the joystick to the robotic arm, which in turn was controlled by the monkey's brain signals. At first the monkeys continued moving their own arms whilst carrying out the task, but in time they learned this was no longer necessary and stopped doing so.
Besides being remarkable achievements in themselves, the experiment and the technologies they employ raise vast implications for the future, including:
1. Devising means to help people with paralysis by bypassing brain lesions or damaged parts of the spine through more advanced bionics.
2. Military applications such as directing aircraft or artillery bombardments by human thought.
3. Medical uses such as performing surgeries inside a patient's body using robots remotely controlled by the surgeon's brain.
4. Truly unique forms of communication--i.e., if I want to speak with Jane, I think of her and software reads my brain waves, notes my goal, and establishes a telephone link to her.
5. A universal remote control for all devices—at last!
6. Bizarre new legal developments. Is a person criminally responsible if a robot arm misreads his thoughts and commits murder?
7. Opportunities to identify individuals using their brain wave patterns.
8. Macaque monkeys seizing control of the planet using martial arts robots.